Chase topic minefields

[Joey Ketcham]

I only have a small skywarn magnet on the back of my bone stock Forester...but thats just to help convince the sheriff I'm not up to no good while out chasing lightning.

Another one to add to that list, Dan.

A Storm Spotter, or Skywarn Magnet isn't going to deter law enforcement from harassing you. I'm sure there are a few LEO's out there that if they suspect you're storm chasing, they will harass you and a little Skywarn Magnet isn't going to help.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Well...from experience, while out photographing lightning, I have had fewer stop and asks from the county sheriff with my magnets in place than without. So while those here can disparage having "I'm a stormchaser" decals and signs all over their vehichle , and be considered attention whores, while out photographing lightning at night with reflective magnets on my car I've had far fewer issues with law enforcement and more importantly with late night locals.

So call it what you will...but id rather have my magnet discourage a curious imbibed local than the alternative on my hip ( which btw was recommended by my local sheriff).

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Well...from experience, while out photographing lightning, I have had fewer stop and asks from the county sheriff with my magnets in place than without. So while those here can disparage having "I'm a stormchaser" decals and signs all over their vehichle , and be considered attention whores, while out photographing lightning at night with reflective magnets on my car I've had far fewer issues with law enforcement and more importantly with late night locals.

So call it what you will...but id rather have my magnet discourage a curious imbibed local than the alternative on my hip ( which btw was recommended by my local sheriff).

Likely excuse to have a needless Skywarn magnet on your vehicle. You have no substantial evidence to back up your theory on whether or not your tiny little Skywarn magnet resulted in having fewer stop and asks from police. It's pure randomness. In all the years I've been storm chasing, the times I've stood along a highway or dirt road at night shooting lightning, take a guess at how many times I was approached by law enforcement... just guess. The answer is 0. I never had a Skywarn magnet on my vehicle, and yet all these times I stood along highways or dirt roads at night not once did I have a cop stop.

And just so you know, when a cop is pulling in behind a vehicle he's focusing on the license plate and the surrounding environment, he's not looking at your Skywarn magnet. lol

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Well as worked up as you seem to want to get about it, my local sheriff has stopped plenty of times to see what I'm up to. When they've seen the magnets, they've immediately shut off their spotlights, whereas before magnets they used spots and blues and treated the situation as a suspicious stop until we spoke, thus ruining any exposures i had running...on making them better in some cases.

That said, they now recognize me and know what I'm up to, so the magnets go on when i set up at night to help ease curiosity of locals. Its easy...magnets look official, especially at night when i do most of my shooting, where i can use them to ward off people in general...but i dont use them and pretend to be important. They never go on during daytime chases.

So despite your amazing record of avoiding the law at night, some of us use the excuse of chasing weather to our advantage.

Also, fwiw, i took the class...and I do spot and report local weather...no reason I can't enjoy it and not be ashamed of a hobby I greatly enjoy. Just because you ride a high horse, doesn't mean you need to look down on everyone else.

 

[Todd Lemery]

Saddle'em up boys! Here we go!
I'm not sure why people get so cranked up about little things like a Skywarn sticker or anything else on someone's vehicle. I don't have anything on my vehicle, but if someone else wants a sticker or wants to look like "ghostbusters" that really has no bearing on me. Hell, I like seeing the armored vehicles on the road.
My feeling is that as long as a fellow chaser isn't doing anything illegal, have at it. One issue that was brought up that I think has a good reason to fire a few people up, that I never thought of, was people giving their pictures and videos away for free. I know some chasers could really use a few extra dollars to help cover costs and the more people are giving the media freebies, the less money others will have the opportunity to make. That sounds like a legit discussion.
We are all different and yet still the same. We shouldn't expect others to conform to our own opinions. Feel free to get upset and rant about others who are different than you though, it's pretty entertaining.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Just to keep this thread on topic, I'm going to start a new thread about stickers and the chaser vehicle 'look'. I'd like this thread to simply be an assist to the self-awareness of new chasers regarding controversial subjects.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Excellent idea Dan. Thanks.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I love how the thread outlining controversial topics immediately fell into one of the controversial topics. We should have taken bets on which one it would be.

 

[adlyons]

This too I get so many questions about DST and time conversions. Look at a chart people.

 

[Shane Adams]

Like I mentioned in another thread, my only issue with the "look at me" stuff is when that's all there is....no real chasing behind it. As for me, I wasn't immune to the lure of proudly displaying my love of chasing and being a chaser. Check out my ST bio from 1999. Makes me cringe to read it today, but at the time, I was as enthusiastic (and proud to show it off) about my chasing as anyone ever was. http://www.stormtrack.org/old/1999/whoswho.htm#shaneadams

 

[KMcCallister]

Don't forget how controversial it is when somebody "chases just to see the awesomeness of nature and to hang a few pretty pictures of it on the wall". Yeah, that gets them steaming.

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Seems kind of odd, these conversations...are we supposed to be embarrassed to be chasers, to try to hide it like a functioning alcoholic?

Why can't we just enjoy this oddball past time without having to be scrutinized for how we go about it?

Maybe I should go buy 1000 watts of amber LEDs just to help pull the proverbial stick out of some people asses. Its supposed to be fun...if you're not having fun, stay home.

 

[JamesCaruso]

I love how the thread outlining controversial topics immediately fell into one of the controversial topics. We should have taken bets on which one it would be.

That was my thought exactly, you beat me to the post Skip!


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[JamesCaruso]

Valid point. In that case, we need to add an entire volume associated with the science of meteorology, including topics such as
-what is a dryline
-what is a supercell
-why do supercells split/move right/move left
-what is a derecho
-why do tornadoes form
-what gives supercells rotation
-where can one typically find the dryline
-what does lapse rate have to do with forecasting severe weather
-what is pressure
-...
-...
-...

This list could go on for a few hundred entries.

This raises an interesting point. There are a lot of new threads started that pertain to topics that have already been discussed. But I think that reflects both the nature and the limitations of the discussion forum format.

It's the nature and purpose of this type of forum that people want to *discuss* something, so we are sometimes more inclined to start a conversation than to use this forum as a reference library.

Of course, it is also in fact an awesome reference library, but that's where the limitations of the forum format come in. Discussion forums are not, in my opinion, designed to be research applications. They are not created for ease of reference or to facilitate efficient searches. The information is organized but not really curated, which is not the same thing. This is especially true outside of the Target Area section, where there is less structure and a lot of overlap/redundancy of topics.

None of this is meant as a criticism of Stormtrack! It is just an inherent limitation of the discussion forum format. Again I think the main purpose is to *discuss*, and the new conversations often have a different angle/perspective/spin than existing threads. It's more like a magazine that revisits topics periodically, but each time there is a new flavor and voice to it, and it will grab the attention of new people that can contribute fresh thinking and the latest information.

I guess maybe I am off-topic now but that's how conversations go sometimes!


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[Robert Edmonds]

Valid point. In that case, we need to add an entire volume associated with the science of meteorology, including topics such as
-what is a dryline
-what is a supercell
-why do supercells split/move right/move left
-what is a derecho
-why do tornadoes form
-what gives supercells rotation
-where can one typically find the dryline
-what does lapse rate have to do with forecasting severe weather
-what is pressure
-...
-...
-...

This list could go on for a few hundred entries.

[sarcasm]
No these topics shouldn't be brought up either, they have already been discussed before as many have pointed out to newbies. Just search the archive, rehashing old topics serves no purpose.
[/sarcasm]