CHANGES YOU WILL MAKE FOR NEXT SEASON

[Jason Boggs]

You say, why are you starting a thread for next season for? Well, if next season starts as early as this season, we have only 4 months to get ready. I live, eat and breath storm chasing so I always think about ways to improve. By the way, those 4 months are going to go by fast! Anyway, what are some changes that some of you plan to make for next season? Here are a few of mine.

1. I won't be chasing for KAMR-TV anymore. I will be freelancing for "Doppler" Dave Oliver on NewsChannel10 so I won't be tied down to the "viewing area" any more. Besides, all my Met friends from KAMR are leaving for other jobs. Chasing for KAMR was becoming too much of a job, and that's not what chasing is for me. I always want it to be fun.

2. I will be studying a lot and working on getting better at hand analysis.

3. I need to replace my windshield. It has cracks in it from rocks and it also has a lot of very small pits in it from the blowing sand and gravel. It makes it really tough when driving into the sun.

4. Perform maintenance on vehicle.

5. Fix tail light on truck. I was backing up and backed into a pole and cracked the lens pretty bad.

Speaking of lens, I'm going to buy a new lens for my Canon 400/D. Either this one:
Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Image Stabilizer USM Autofocus Lens

or this one
Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens

6. Save lots of money! (Heh, easier said than done)

7. Buy a good portable TV. My chase partner had one this year and it came in handy especially when we missed the El Reno tornado by 10 minutes and was watching it on TV!

8. Find a better place for my wx radio. Can someone help me on this one? Mike Mezeul, you can chime in at any time!

9. I need to get a dedicated internet source for my laptop. Data card or whatever is the best and cheapest.

10. Try to get another Media Pass for CH10. I was an actual employee with KAMR but I won't be with CH10. Does anybody know if I can still get a media pass if I'm not actually employed by a station. David Drummond, can you give me some advice?

11. Get my Spotter Identification renewed.

 

[mike scantlin]

El Reno tornado? That was in 06... Oh well.

Moving on, I missed some really good tornadoes this year just by not wanting to drive a long distance by myself. Next year, I will chase every chance i get. Long drive or not, alone or with friends.

Also, i need a better vehicle. My Crown Vic is amazing for the highway, but doesn't go off road. With the farm roads in TX and KS i will need a 4wd.

One change i hope mother nature will make for next year is some good chases in OK. The only chase i had in OK this year was last week's elevated screamers. Don't get me wrong, I'll take what i can get in my backyard. I'm just saying the big tornado days were either KS or TX. And the TX panhandle is a loooooong trip from Tulsa.

One last change. I MUST get a radar program in my vehicle. Not to use as much as most people, but to know where other storms are, as well as stay on the safe side. I was in a tornado this year and if we had adequate radar, it wouldn't have happened. Granted, the AMA radar was down for about 30 minutes prior. Now I'm rambling. My point is we missed some really good storms chasing with our eyes only, when better storms were in range. We just didn't know they were there.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Yea, the El Reno tornado was back in 06. I really need to get a portable TV for those chases close to a big city where I can get radar updates and cut-ins from the TV station.

 

[Tarmo Tanilsoo]

Make sure that portable TV has a digital tuner... Otherwise it will be rendered useless by 2009.

 

[Dan Robinson]

1.) Save money.

2.) New laptop and cell internet aircard. The USB ports on my old laptop are shot and are having trouble maintaining the GPS and WxWorx devices. The PCMCIA slot also doesn't work and the CPU overheats easily. With our web design company expanding into North Carolina, I will probably be getting a new laptop over the winter. My company pays for my home cable internet access, and I just got approval to have that shut off and get an aircard instead (roughly the same cost per month to them) whenever I get a new laptop. It is slower, but I don't need high speed to do my work.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I think my only hope or change is to chase less. I need to go to counseling to remove the fear of missing something. I am still not able to let myself sit out on much, unless it is very obvious it has no chance in hell(but, ummmmmmm, gas prices may very well help here...$92/barrel now...wtf). I also am too willing to sit out chases if I have recently chased a bunch. Hmmm, if I fix both of those I'm probably still chasing the same amount. 30 chases a year sounds about right to me anymore. The 40+ crap has to go.

Shoot a lot more stuff for timelapse. I've been making a new video to replace all my others, and the intro is full of timelapse stuff. It's really made me wish I did more with that. I'm sort of starting to believe that great timelapse scenes of great storm structure will trump any tornado video one may get. It's just hard to top a FF'd spinning giant supercell. I guess one can always get their fill of that stuff, and still get closer tornado footage too. Capturing long HDV segments to the PC does not sound like fun though.

 

[fplowman]

Ehhh, EVDO Internet and a New Digitial SLR with some good lenses. I would also like to install a new scanner and an antenna on my truck.

 

[Matthew Fischer]

For Adam Lucio and I, I wrote down some things that we may need for next year for driving out to the plain.

1. Code Red Mountain Dew Dispenser
2. Video Cam Mount so i don't have to hold the cam when trying to get a road!
3. Cell phone antenna along with wireless. (like one i have seen on here in equipment page which means save money to buy that!!!!)
4. Bigger inverter so if we have a ride along with us we can have two laptops going at once to get data from other source if main source goes out!
5. New cameras for better pictures!

 

[Brian Stertz]

My new year's resolution will to keep things simple, and not prepare for the chase as extensively as I have in the past. Some of my best and more relaxing chases have been bolts out the door at the last minute with a camera, camcorder, DeLorme map book and a few maps, and my scanner. One has to wonder when the C/S Plains will be truly getting back to normal. Damaging tornadoes in Oklahoma and not Manitoba, a June fizzle, and more.

 

[David Drummond]

10. Try to get another Media Pass for CH10. I was an actual employee with KAMR but I won't be with CH10. Does anybody know if I can still get a media pass if I'm not actually employed by a station. David Drummond, can you give me some advice?

You shouldn't have any problem, especially if you had one with the other station. At most you might need something saying your working with them, or have the news director give the PD PR person (or whoever issues those in AMA a call for you)



I am planning on upgrading the scanners in my van and my chase partner already got one for his truck we need to put in.

I might see about upgrading to a new laptop.

Gotta get some parts and fix my anemometer. The guy that washed my van last drove it in to the overhead doors and broke it all to pieces.

 

[Michael P. Morris]

Better wide-angle lens
light bars
drive a lot faster so I don't miss any more tornadoes
memorize names of all counties in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas

 

[Grady Joslin]

With me, I am planning to setup a home weather station and actually turn my computer room more into a weather office. Just without the green screen.

But I also need to upgrade my ham radio. Mainly because I had an accident of spilling coke on it when I was in my van with it. I am also planning to relocate my radios in my van along with getting one for the office I am working on.

One big thing I wish to improve is getting a chase partner for next year chase. While still be limited to the Indiana area... I've still have found places to chase safely but... I really need a navigator. Trying to do it all by myself pulled over on the side of the road just... too dangerous and wasteful.

But when I get everything setup in the weather room, at least I can be part of the storm spotter group for now and spot around my area.

I also found too, if anyone wants to setup a cheap desktop for weather to if it gets fried by lightning, geeks.com is a good place to get them. I got a Dell GX260 for around $100. All I needed to do with it was put xp on it. Thats what I am on now to type this.

And during this winter I will be reading a lot more into my weather books learning as much as I can.

 

[Darin Brunin]

1) A 1993 Geo Tracker soft top
2) clown suits
3) A new 7 iron
4) a bird dog
5) spike strips
6) balloons

 

[Mikey Gribble]

1. The main change I'll make is working harder on my forecasting next year. Last season was the first time where I really felt like I screwed up the forecast and missed tornadoes because of it. There were two or three chase days where I botched the forecast and I'm still not sure why. This was also the first year that I didn't spend a lot of time studying before season, and I think that's probably why I didn't get the results I wanted. So next season I'm going to work extra hard studying to get ready for it.

2. No more speeding tickets. I got clobbered this year with tickets. That's not going to happen again.

3. I'm going to get a reliable way to have internet access in the field. I've never had internet access while chasing and I think it would be a big help and save a lot of time (since I won't have to stop and search for wifi). I actually paid for internet tethering through my cell, but the damn thing never worked outside a major city and I didn't spend much time chasing downtown Wichita or OKC.

4. I'm going to stop being such a pansy and stay in the field longer. I missed several tornadoes this year because I left the storm earlier than I should (namely the Greensburg tornado, ouch, that hurt). I'm going to suck it up next season and stop worrying about how much sleep I get. I used to not have that problem. I think I'm just getting old.

5. Finally, every year I swear I'm going to leave earlier on chase days. I feel like I'm late 90% of the time. I hate feeling rushed when I'm driving to my target (hence the speeding tickets). I didn't miss any tornadoes because of it, but I don't like not being able to stop and forecast again before I get on a storm and that happened several times. I'm going to leave two or three hours earlier next season.

 

[Shane Adams]

1 - Get my windshield fixed. It's been over two years and I'm going to go cross-eyed looking at that damn hole if I don't get it repaired.

2 - Hopefully obtain a laptop with internet access so I can forecast chases on multi-day trips when I'm by myself.

3 - Keep doing what I started doing a few years ago...stick to the plan. I'm not a brilliant forecasting chaser, never will be, but I've under-estimated my abilities in the past. I do what I call "managing the chase" which simply means sticking to the plan. When I leave I have a plan, and the plan has different steps and options along the way, depending on how things evolve. I've found that more often than not, sticking to my plan works well for me. I call it "letting the chase come to me."

 

[Jay McCoy]

Well Jason obviously I am with you on this one.

1. Will NOT be chasing for KAMR this year after what they did to our met friends. The lady they brought in as chief is an absolute idiot!! She says she has been a met (and chaser) for 12 years working in OK city and Dallas and has both the AMS and NWA seals but she cant read an LSR and doesnt know what CAPE is!!!!! Good luck forcasting severe wx in the panhandle moron. Sortof sad since I grew up at KAMR. Been there since I was 4 years old when my dad did wx there for 30 yrs.

2. Finish rigging up my old partners chase vechicle with some of my own equipment. Always good to have a backup chase truck. I still cant believe nobody on here bought that truck. It was mostly loaded and ready to go. I am adding wxworx hookups and doing some rewiring so I can run everything without the engine on.

3. Replace windshield (hail and birdstrikes).

4. Hopefully my partner can join me on the road more in 2008 now that she had her baby. Now just to find a sitter

 

[Bill Hark]

My changes for 2008:

1) Study more forecasting. One can never learn enough.

2) Add GRLv3 to my home computer and laptop along with obtain better mobile internet access. I've been using WeatherTap and WxWorx and will still keep them.

3) Try to schedule trips out to the Plains during the possibility of severe weather. Sitting under a ridge for a week and a half or looking for scraps in North Dakota is expensive and not much fun.

I will eventually upgrade to HD but would like to see another generation of cameras with better low light capability. HD will also require upgrading my computers and television.

Bill Hark

 

[Brian Stertz]

1. Will NOT be chasing for KAMR this year after what they did to our met friends. The lady they brought in as chief is an absolute idiot!! She says she has been a met (and chaser) for 12 years working in OK city and Dallas and has both the AMS and NWA seals but she cant read an LSR and doesnt know what CAPE is!!!!! Good luck forcasting severe wx in the panhandle moron. Sortof sad since I grew up at KAMR. Been there since I was 4 years old when my dad did wx there for 30 yrs.

Yeah Jay if you want a tough gig...the Texas Panhandle can be really a challenge to the saltiest of mets...and certainly this a truly dumb move bringing somebody like that in. She'll need smelling salts if a more traditional May and June setup next spring in the Panhandle. Yikes.

I told a reporter one time what I consider the area that sees the meanest of the mean....and I said without any hesitation....the Texas Panhandle. If the road network was better, this would be my selection as the best place to chase....especially that Pampa-Wheeler area. Wow.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

Changes for 2008 ... none. In the past couple of years I've found an ideal mix of pure contentment and freedom. The sky is my playground again ... when I want it to be, on my own terms, and without a thought of what many seem to consider as success. I'm there to enjoy the experience no matter what it ends up being, with no thoughts of keeping up with someone else, posting in an internet forum, displaying a catch to the world, or selling a tape. It's mine every single time to enjoy as I please, and I have complete freedom.

 

[Forrest lambert]

changes for 2008? laptop, laptop, laptop. thats what i need to buy. and the wxworx software. right now im just using radars from websites which bites.

 

[Jonathan Whitehead]

Gotta get some parts and fix my anemometer. The guy that washed my van last drove it in to the overhead doors and broke it all to pieces.

I hope he pays for it all. Im sure you were pissed as ever. One thing I cant stand is stupidity...uggg dont get me started

Anyway I really dont have changes to make. I will be taking the Junior series classes in the spring, which means there will be at least one outbreak during an exam. I know it happens every year b/c a lot of my chase partners have been stuck during big days taking an exam. So my main focus is on my classes and if I have time and something looks good, always know ill be analyzing it 6 ways to Sunday the day before/morning of.

Also wouldnt mind having a reliable chase partner, always juggling chase partners. I welcome any offers from those in the area.

 

[David Drummond]

I hope he pays for it all. Im sure you were pissed as ever. One thing I cant stand is stupidity...uggg dont get me started

Unfortunately, no they didn't. I had taken it there once before and they did a great job. The second time, I made sure to tell the one that took it in, be SURE you watch that on top and the doors, or you will hit it. Said it several times. I used this place because they did hand washes, no machines.

When I came back to pick it up, they were finishing it up (should have been WAYYY done with it). Got to noticing that something didn't look right with the anemometer so I went over to the bay to get a good look. The guy had hit the door, which folded the anemometer back and almost broke the aluminum shaft in two. He had apparently got up there, too the retaining screws out and turned the shaft around so the anemometer would face the right direction. This of course made it upside down, so he had then taken the screws loose on on the anemometer head and rotated it 180 degrees so it was rightside up. To someone that didn't know better, it probably would have slid by on casual inspection. It's obvious he was trying to cover it up.

So I confronted him about it. He goes "oh there was a little accident". I was like "yeah, I would say so!" The girl that took it in was standing there, and she says, "I told him to watch out for it!" He says nothing else and I ask, "well, who do we need to contact to get this paid for?". He says,"I ain't payin' for that!" I said, "Come on man, I'm not giving you a hard time, you guys have insurance for this sort of thing."

Long story short, he got very belligerent and I finally had to threaten to call the police before he went and got the owner on the phone. He was telling him a completely different story. Then he didn't want to give me the owners name and number. I got my cell phone out and started dialing the police, he finally gives it to me, so I call the owner.

That guy was really nice and all apologetic, and told me to send him the invoice for what it takes to fix it and he would send me a check, that it was too small for his insurance. Gave me his fax number. I got home, ran up an invoice for the parts on the Davis website and tried to fax it. It was someone's cell number. I called him again, he gave me two other fax numbers. I successfully sent it TWICE to both of them. A week goes by, then another, I never hear anything. So I have tried to call him numerous times, but he never answers the call.

I did do a police report on it, but it was a civil matter so there wasn't much else they could do. I haven't really pursued it further.

 

[John Hudson]

One has to wonder when the C/S Plains will be truly getting back to normal. Damaging tornadoes in Oklahoma and not Manitoba, a June fizzle, and more.

I really never had a problem with damaging tornadoes in Manitoba, Brian. "Normal" weather patterns here have really gone out the window the last two summers, and it is a trend for the better.

Most changes I'll be making in '08 will be to equipment. On my want list is a new Canon lens for my XT, namely the EF 24mm f/1.4L USM. Also want to install wxworx for springtime.

More importantly, have to read, read, and read some more on forecasting. There is such an amazing amount to learn.

John
www.skywatch7.com

 

[Adam Lucio]

-The biggest change [although its not really a change] for me is going to be the studying. Im not the best forecaster but this year I have made allot of improvements, Ive tought myself everything I know and will be hitting the books and web-articles hard this winter. My main area of focus is going to be comparing different models more [right now I rely heavily on GFS and a little bit on NAM]

-I bought a laptop mount but have never installed it, that will be done as well.

-Like my partner Matt Fish mentioned, dash cam-mount. I also have an interesting idea I might try out that involves two reletively cheap waterproof cameras [therye designed for bicycle helmets] being mounted to each mirror of my van...need to see how plausible this really is.

-Chase more, Ive got about 8 chases under my belt this year, this is tough due to work and where I live, but Ive saved personal time off so that it will roll over next year and allow me to hopefully get out there for more weekday events.

-I would like to get a cell signal boost kit as well, Cingulars/AT&Ts card works well but once your west of Wichita...forget about it.

 

[Joe Zemek]

one goal

Move back to Denver by May, so that chasing supercells can be part of my life instead of the focus of one decreasingly affordable two-week gamble every May/June.