Chaser convergence- getting even worse.

[JamesCaruso]

I know it’s only anecdotal and subjective, but I do feel like the chaser convergence is worse this year. On 5/25 (SW KS) and 5/26 (SE CO) there were multiple targets yet there were still constant lines of cars everywhere. Today 5/26/19 there were two accidents on route 96 between Eads and Cheyenne Wells CO - an SUV nose down in a ditch, and a silver Kia that had been smashed in the rear; an ambulance was on the scene.

I agree with Alex that there are some very poor drivers out there, but it’s the volume that’s making it an issue. Now we have yet another variable to worry about on top of all the other strategizing and stress of navigating around storms - like “better not stop to watch from here, we’ll be at the end of the line (or may not get back into the line).”

It’s been pretty bad these last two days, not the worst I’ve ever seen but these were far from the “perfect storm” (one target, one storm, one road) type events either. I can’t imagine having to deal with this in a more stressful near-storm environment with a true tornadic beast.

 

[ScottCurry]

For everybody complaining... just remember...

You're not stuck in chaser convergence - you ARE chaser convergence.

 

[Douglas Kiesling]

There is one sure way to get rid of most of it if the deaths start adding up. The government can not regulate it but Insurance companies can. All it would take is for the auto insurance industry to do what they do with other extreme sports such as racing. Example Racing and car insurance | CarInsurance.com

So to simply eliminate most of the chasers, the insurance industry could simply put it in the policy that you will not be covered if you intentionally seek to drive into severe weather outside of your normal daily activities. This would not hurt those that live or work in an area a tornado or severe weather hits because you were driving during your normal daily activities.

These days it is not hard with social media to prove you were chasing or on a chase vacation. If the insurance industry did this, it would be a massive tectonic shift in the number of chasers because it would be cost prohibitive to chase. Then again, everyone could get a rental vehicle and rental insurance.

 

[Matthew Crowther]

How would the Insurance companies prove you were chasing and not just vacationing in the area? My vehicle is not festooned with "EXTREME TORNADO HUNTER!!!!" decals and the like.....

 

[JF Massicotte]

Got back home on Friday night after my first Plains run.

Yesterday I was looking at chaser traffic in Colorado. This has to be a first for a Colorado chase, this state had that reputation to be less crowded, because well TX and OK locals do not travel there and add to convergence. I really thought that the issues really were worse in TX/OK because of the "anyone with a pickup truck and a cellphone becomes a chaser" phenomenon over there. Those were sure not in Colorado yesterday. I talked with a couple friends who were there and what they said is it did not look like locals, it was chase tours and chasecationners.

Looks like we've reached that level as well, where the "real, passionate chasers" have also become too many. On 5/20 at Mangum we did not experience real traffic issue because a crowd has an IQ that is inversely proportional to its number, that makes the crowd itself quite easy to forecast and manage. Most of our chase decisions were based on that crowd and we got rewarded well. Now, I realized that this crowd isn't composed by only "locals with pickup trucks" but also a good number of "real, passionate chasers" just like me that are learning from experience and they will sooner or later adopt similar strategies around supercells and will make it useless, even borderline dangerous. So here I can't be selfish and say "you guys should adapt" because once everyone adapts we'll have traffic jams ahead of the meso instead of behind, this is a call for catastrophe.


Looks like the only solution is to have less chasers, that's the only way to make this better, and the only way I can contribute to make it better is not be part of it myself. Hell I don't even know if I can be mature enough to target only "June and later to the North" and pass on an obvious late May Plains opportunity, but that's the only solution I can find. I'm not even complaining right now because even on Mangum traffic did not affect me whatsoever, but I have to agree to the obvious that we are too many, and I am part of that too many. Maybe I should just restrict myself on secondary targets on days like yesterday (did you guys see that NM tornado?) except on large multiple targets chases like on 5/17. I don't know really, we are too many but it's damn hard to pass on late May Plains active period, and if yesterday had been DDC 2.0 I'd be pissed to have to choose secondary target.

 

[Randall Bragg]

After 125 replies on this thread, I conclude that we all love the chase, and some will adapt, some will quit, some will chase no matter what, and some are still working out their decisions on this matter. Remember when Disco dancing was just a fad, but then everybody was doing it? (Well, not everyone). The dance floor became too crowded, and some of them couldn't even dance ! But that didn't matter to me, I still danced. I even dance disco today, usually at weddings after a few drinks. So for the Old School guys like me, I will adapt. I will change my choices and decision-making to continue to dance out there with the storms. The dance floor is open to everyone, all are welcome, let's just enjoy the music, as safe as possible.

 

[John Farley]

Yesterday was not a first for CO. There was a massive backup of chasers east of Denver on May 21, 2014. BTW, see the link below for another article on the Everest problems. It strikes me as very similar issues to what we have in chasing, though in a situation with greater risk.

Everest mountaineer warned of overcrowding before dying on climb - CNN

www.cnn.com

 

[Bob Schafer]

Anybody on US 36 chasing the Deer Trail tornadic storm June 10, 2010? That was ALMOST as bad as yesterday on 287. 9 years ago.

 

[Jeff House]

We will go in June and north from now on. Risk death ridge, but it's now become the preferred risk over convergence. See friends if we bust.

That said we did OK last week. Apparently far northeast OK scares off the herd, but Miami less awful terrain than say Tulsa.

We somehow choked on the Canadian layup Thursday. Maybe let chaser-con scare us. TA Reports coming when I have time and inclination.

 

[JamesCaruso]

For everybody complaining... just remember...

You're not stuck in chaser convergence - you ARE chaser convergence.

You are 100% correct and this is important to remind ourselves. But it’s human nature, when you have been doing something for a long time (23 years in my case) and you see this happen, to the point where it adversely affects your enjoyment of the activity, it is very hard to not be upset about it. The enjoyment is affected not only because it’s no longer a solitary experience communing with nature, but also because it adds yet another tactical and safety concern while navigating a storm environment. The safety concern is obvious. The tactical concern is “this is a bad time to pull over and enjoy the storm because we don’t want to end up behind this line of cars.” Or, “don’t pull into that dirt road on the opposite side for a better view because you’ll never get back into the line of cars.” Or even “don’t walk to the other side of the road to get a picture without the road and telephone lines in the foreground because you can’t cross back over quickly and safely.”

Our experience of this is no different than surfers seeing their favorite point break get overrun, or campers seeing their favorite campsite get too crowded, or mountain climbers seeing their route filled with adventure tourists (see Everest article I posted above), or even a local loving a neighborhood bar or restaurant that suddenly becomes the “place to be”. It’s a strictly emotional response, whereas you make a point of logic and reason, but the human emotion, the regret of how it used to be, is not going to go away. I know the “original” veteran chasers and pioneers thought that even in the late ‘90s after Twister it was already changing for the worse. Now we as veterans ourselves are experiencing it even more so. There really is no solution except to deal with it and to police ourselves about good conduct and courtesy on the road. But venting with each other does help.

 

[Jesse Risley]

Anybody on US 36 chasing the Deer Trail tornadic storm June 10, 2010? That was ALMOST as bad as yesterday on 287. 9 years ago.

Yes, I was, but I'd argue yesterday was far worse. I've never seen anything like yesterday in CO, at least not in that state. Listening to public safety frequencies, LE was getting extremely frustrated. I heard several accident calls, including a chaser that was rear ended and another that was popped for disobeying a road block. Hopefully there were no injuries.

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I have to agree with James, it seems much worse this year and it's reaching a point where it takes away from the enjoyment. Tulia was the most dangerous, Mangum and Eads were darn near unchasable because you couldn't keep up with the storms (due to wrecks). It was also really busy around Carmen, OK and Canadian, TX but at least they were manageable. I happily dropped off the Eads storm at 5pm yesterday to get away from the conga line.

Pull-offs are at a premium the last couple of weeks, and if you pull off you may not get back on for quite a while. People stand in the roadways and run across like deer, darting out randomly from the side of the road and I can't tell you how many cars I saw stuck in ditches the last few days. The aforementioned wrecks at Mangum and Eads are just a preview of more dangerous issues that lie ahead because the numbers are just too great for the roads to handle and every single vehicle has a distracted driver at the wheel. It's not hard to see the amount of people on storms only increasing going forward, and it's hard to blame anyone, because who wants to miss out on Mother Nature's awesomeness that is accessible to the masses now more now than ever.

Sure it sounds like an old man rant, one because I'm an old(er) man who has spent a lot of time soaking views up with only a handful of people on a storm even in the heart of May. I also hate daily traffic in large cities, waiting 45 minutes for a seat at a restaurant and visiting national parks in July... I try to avoid all of that like the plague. For most, all the inconveniences are ok, and I suppose those who have grown up with it are good because that's all they've ever known, or will know. But, there's a point where the PITA factor outweighs the benefit. Plus, who wants the same photo/video as 1000 other people? Ok, maybe a lot based on the last couple of weeks

 

[Warren Faidley]

Ahhhhh. Relaxing with a cold drink in my hand far down south where there is no convergence. High visibility tornadoes that stay on the ground for 2 hours. Have a good day.

 

[Douglas Kiesling]

How would the Insurance companies prove you were chasing and not just vacationing in the area? My vehicle is not festooned with "EXTREME TORNADO HUNTER!!!!" decals and the like.....

Very easy, why where you there? Is there video posted on line on social media? Insurance companies deny claims all the time. They could just ask if you had a accident or claim due to damage on a road in Iowa near Mapleton, Iowa while there was severe weather, why where you in that area? Where were you going? Why not take the interstate?

Most normal people plan vacations well in advance with where they are going to go and see on each day and who they are going to see and stay well in advance.

 

[JeremyS]

I was in Colorado yesterday and it’s been a long time for me personally seeing that many vehicles on a chase. That being said, the behavior I saw wasn’t horrible. I even made the comment to my chase partner how while it was annoying to have that many people out and having to drive that slow, people weren’t being jerks. Nobody was cutting people off, passing on hills, or driving 90 mph. Maybe that was just because there wasn’t a wedge somewhere close