Chaser traffic in 2012 and the "CTI" (Chaser Traffic Index)

[Jeff Snyder]

Actually Jeff, if this is May 19th that you are talking about, then it was a Wednesday. I remember being at work and catching the earliest flight I could back home from Boston that morning.

I remember thinking that the traffic was crazy for being a weekday. It took me over five minutes to get back on the road after I pulled off.

Travis -- you are correct. I'll edit my post to get rid of the error. Thanks!

 

[Rob H]

Out of curiosity, where does the 2009 Oregon, MO storm fit in?

It would be interesting to try and figure out the number of SN-using chasers / chasers / locals. Does anyone have a screen cap of the Salina area SN icons at peak congestion?

 

[Jake Orosi]

Here's a picture from near Kingfisher, OK, on 5/19/10, taken by JR Hehnly and available on his website:

Sorry for coming back to it, but that photo is just epic. I keep imagining that cell in the background suddenly throwing an obvious hook on the radar, and everyone in that line trying to turn around and chase it...envision the pure chaos.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Man, I guess I'm just lucky. The only convergence that has seriously hindered how I chase was June 7, 2009 simply because there was one dominant storm and one or two bridge crossings across the Missouri. I've never seen emergency vehicles impeded.

April 14 was a CTI-1 for us and we saw several large tornadoes in central KS. I did see a lengthy line of cars near Kingman that day, but we were playing the storm rather tightly and were able to get back on the road before the three ring circus arrived. The rest of the day we saw maybe 4-5 chasers at most in any one spot.

Last year it was dead out there. In fact, during most of my tornado intercepts not only was there no convergence but we were the only car on the road:
http://skip.cc/chase/110409/104-copy.jpg
http://skip.cc/chase/110521/11052118.jpg
http://skip.cc/chase/110522/11052209.jpg

Some days we didn't see another chaser the entire day. It's made me believe that chasing has peaked in popularity and that the field is largely saturated, the exception being near cities where locals venture out. The cities are relatively easy to avoid in most cases, however.

Inhibiting convergences seem like the exception rather than the norm with May 19, '10 being an extraordinary case. I encounter them so infrequently that they aren't even much of a concern. Here's a few simple tips on how to avoid the masses:

• Don't bunch up. That sounds obvious, but it's simple. Many chasers, locals, and newbs congregate because they see each other. Just avoid the groups and travel a bit down the road until you're in the clear.
• Don't intercept in heavily trafficked areas. Avoid cities and major highway intersections. It's hard to enjoy the storm from these vantages points anyway.
• Stay ahead of the storm. Most of the "newbs" have a tendency to just drift, or parallel the hook to the south or lag behind it. Stay a step ahead of the storm, and you'll be a step ahead of most chasers.
• Pick the less obvious or less popular target. This feels like a debilitating compromise, but often times the lesser target is the most rewarding, and you'll see stuff few others will. Who wants to pile onto the same storm and get the same picture from the same angle that 100 others did?

The one thing that irks me, and I've seen this a few times in reference to recent events, is the notion of "real" chasers. This is a made up term by those with a false sense of self worth used to try and elevate themselves above others. First of all, you can't judge chasers by their vehicles, since some of the most experienced and prolific chasers chase in unassuming sedans with no fancy equipment and some of the biggest newbs out there have vehicles plastered with stickers and lights. Second, we're all idiot amateurs with camera phones. We all started in a similar manner, and while we have varying levels of experience and knowledge, no chaser (or motorist for that matter) has any more right to be on there than anyone else. We're all just tourists. I don't care if you have a plastic spotter badge, inkjet certificate, a news station pays for your tourism hobby, storm chasing license signed by Doswell, claim to have seen 400 rotating pieces of condensation, or $10,000 in attention getting vehicle add-ons, everyone in that convergence has just as much right to be there as you.

 

[Stan Rose]

My CTI goes to 11--
CTI-11: The population of Wakeeney jumps to 30 million. "Revenge of Twister," starring Kim Kardashian, is re-released in 3D. The President signs an emergency executive order making storm chasing a capital offense. Dogs and Cats sleep together...

 

[Travis Davis]

I would say when I got on the storm near Waynoka it was a CTI 1. As it progressed towards Cherokee it was around a 3 to 4. I jumped off the storm when it passed by Cherokee.

 

[Bryan Stokes]

Excellent post Skip! And very good advice.

I was caught up in the May 19, 2010 mess and by essentially following the advice Skip gave above, I've avoided any crowds since then. I also tend to chase the High Plains and Northern Plains, and I do not run into any of the problems that a High Risk day near OKC and ICT brings.

There's plenty of stress-free, uncrowded chasing to be had out there.

Bryan

 

[Jacob Ferden]

I also should note that on April 14, after we left the Kingman storm, we went after the storm coming up from Oklahoma. Punched from the north, didn't see another chaser. Got in position south of Argonia next to maybe three other chase cars. Proceeded to watch the biggest and meanest wedge I've seen in my chase career. So it can still be done.

 

[Jake Orosi]

We're all just tourists. I don't care if you have a plastic spotter badge, inkjet certificate, a news station pays for your tourism hobby, storm chasing license signed by Doswell,

I agree with you absolutely, one hundred percent!(seriously though, where can I get one of those???)

 

[Sean Ramsey]

Some convergences are better than others. May 19th, 2010 was horrible and I'll always remember that day as being the peak of the issue. Other convergences aren't bad, such as the March 18th storm in SW Oklahoma...lots of people but it was fairly easy to pull off the road and back on as needed. Saturday's convergence didn't really hit until the late afternoon, after I had been following the same storm with only a couple of others in sight most of the day from Oklahoma into Kansas. Friday night near Cooperton there were a few people, but not a ton and it was tornado warned for a good amount of time. April 7th in the Sterling City, TX chase there was almost no one at all.

Most of it comes down to the hype in days before the event.

 

[Rob H]

The one thing that irks me, and I've seen this a few times in reference to recent events, is the notion of "real" chasers. This is a made up term by those with a false sense of self worth used to try and elevate themselves above others

I used this terminology in the other thread, so I want to touch on this.

The media and EM people are specifically blaming out-of-area storm chasers and are adamant that the local to chaser ratio was lower than 2 in 10. There's no way that 280/350 cars in that convergence self-identified as chasers and were all out-of-area. Johnny from Salina, who saw a big tornado on the TV and went to drive after it, is certainly chasing and has every right to be there on the road with the rest of us. It doesn't follow that we're on equal footing for acting in a responsible manner though, and it doesn't help that he's absolved of his contribution to the convergence. There are at the very least two separate demographics causing problems here, and one is taking the full brunt of the blame.

Instead of trying to explain all that, it's sometimes easier to just say "real chasers" vs "local chasers". I don't have a better label off the top of my head, but I'd gladly use one.

 

[Todd Renshaw]

... it's sometimes easier to just say "real chasers" vs "local chasers". I don't have a better label off the top of my head, but I'd gladly use one.

Maybe gawkers would be a better word?

 

[Andy Jackson]

Maybe gawkers would be a better word?

I like how Skip put it. No reason to belittle others because we are all out there for the same reason. I just don't want the long arm of the law coming down on something I enjoy.

 

[Eric Matthews]

As a chaser, Vortex2 was very exciting, until I saw the public response. It was an incredible line of people who, in my opinion, found weather interesting their whole lives and hoped to someday see a tornado, but had no experience forecasting or chasing.

These were lines of "followers" rather than "chasers".

On typical days with a large chaser following, the back roads and side roads to get around a storm to get in better position are active with chasers. When Vortex2 was on the road it was purely a follow the leader. If something had happened and a tornado took a sharp right turn, many followers would have no idea it was coming and would blindly follow the car ahead of them. I was honestly scared what may happen and greatly relieved it did not.

When V2 was on a storm, I usually wasn't. (This was difficult as there were not a lot of good storms to chase that year!)

I believe in the value of V2, the intention and integrity of those involved in it, but hope we don't see a V3 anytime soon.

I'd like to hear from some people who were involved in V2 and find out if you had some of these discussions about how to keep the general public further away and in a safer position, etc.

 

[Dan Robinson]

My experiences this week were mostly in line with Skip's, I had no problems with traffic and only once (south of Cooperton) didn't have a place to stop due to the half dozen or so pull-offs with good views taken. As such I was very surprised to hear how bad Kansas was in places. I was mostly ahead of the storms Friday and Saturday and *much* closer than usual to the tornadoes. As I approached the Ingersoll tornado and caught it crossing the road, there were no cars in sight in front of me, and only 2 other chase vehicles stopped along the road there.

It's apparent that avoiding the crowds can be done even today, no question about that - I just wonder to what degree you can actually plan and execute a chase to avoid them. Seems like it's hit or miss that you'd end up in a jam from what most have said so far about 4/14.