Chasers beware !!!

[Michael Ratliff]

So watching my nightly news channel koco 5 states that the woodward emergancy mgr is fed up with stormchasers breaking the law ....like parking in the middle of the road ....and is about about to do something about it Harper, ellis, and woodward countys will be stepping up patrols on risk days starting tomorrow. Watch our p and q's and the main thing is do what is right ! Oh and there goes the image of the "storm chasers" Thrown out the window...off a roof ..........were screwed in those countys

 

[David Wagener]

The few stupid morons, who some trumpet as darlings of chasing, will continue to cause headaches for the rest of us. Follow the rules, don't be stupid, and hopefully there won't be any problems. Some people are probably gearing up for a very rude awakening if they don't shape up quickly on their behavior out there.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Is Matt Lehenbauer the Emergency Manager that is complaining about storm chasers? Just curious because I read this on their website:

The office is staffed by the Emergency Management Director, Matt Lehenbauer. He previously served as Lieutenant with Mustang Emergency Management and as a volunteer with Oklahoma County Emergency Management. Lehenbauer holds an assoicate degree in Police Science and a bachelor degree in Criminal Justice. He received meteorological instruction from the O.U. School of Meteorology and is a former storm chaser for KWTV and KOCO television stations in Oklahoma City. His severe weather footage has been broadcast nationwide on a number of television outlets, including The Weather Channel. Lehenbauer has worked as a police officer for the City of Woodward for 10 years and as Emergency Management Director since March of 2005.

I can understand wanting to go after those who are breaking the law, I say good for them... but I hope that this doesn't mean they plan to harass any and all storm chasers just because they're storm chasers. If their only goal is to go after those breaking the law then good for them, those who are being respectful and obeying the laws should be fine.

 

[KMcCallister]

Best news I've heard all day! Go Woodward County! I would love to see the police do their jobs and deal with some of these selfish and reckless jackasses.

Chasers beware? No...chasers should hope they are serious.

 

[Michael Ratliff]

Yes its him, I was just informed that he does currenty chase now for a tv media

 

[Michael Ratliff]

Best news I've heard all day! Go Woodward County! I would love to see the police do their jobs and deal with some of these selfish and reckless jackasses.

Chasers beware? No...chasers should hope they are serious.

And lets hope that they dont see stormchaser are bored and need a good laugh later at the watercooler and your the butt end of there joke !

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Yes its him, I was just informed that he does currenty chase now for a tv media

I'm just surprised that he's so pissed off at storm chasers when he himself is a storm chaser. I can understand wanting to crack down on those breaking the laws, but if he's out simply to harass any and all storm chasers then I think he's being a hypocrite since he is a storm chaser with Meteorology training from OU.

 

[Kem Poyner]

beware

Im sure the worst offenders are not the kind of people who care enough to read this forum.

 

[mike scantlin]

well i hope this isnt the beginning of a snowball effect. because with bull**** "reckless driving" tickets coupled with gas prices, we may just have to find a new hobby(im JKing. i will chase till the day i die) but seriously, if they want to keep us out of those counties, it would be very sad to see woodward hit by a rainwrapped tornado with nobody to report it. im sure us on these county roads in butt-humping egypt is a huge problem. in bigger cities, i can understand, but even last week in Perry, OK where there were 20 cars pulled over on the side of HW64, it was not a big deal. the only problem was that Newschaser with 14 lightbars. i even turned around in a guys driveway, and he thanked me for "keeping an eye on the sky for everyone" i think its sad that it has come to this.

[RANT]i mean, i have heard the horror stories of people hanging out of moving vehicles holing a video camera *gasp* and i have seen the illegal U-turns that we all ***** about, but holy hell, its 5 seconds. not really a big deal. its not even as bad as the normal stuff i see on a non-severeWX day. how about they start patrolling the normal traffic hours extra hard? NOOOO WAY. thats not a good news story. that wont get Sherriff bob taylor on the news. we dont do anything different than normal everyday drivers. we just do it when theres no one out there. [/rant]

 

[mike scantlin]

Im sure the worst offenders are not the kind of people who care enough to read this forum.

that is incorrect.

i have been guilty, team remora has been guilty. everyone here, at one time or another, has been guilty.

 

[KMcCallister]

And lets hope that they dont see stormchaser are bored and need a good laugh later at the watercooler and your the butt end of there joke !

I trust that police (with a few unfortunate exceptions like Crane County, TX) generally do a good job and are usually fair in their application of power. So, I'm not worried about it at all. The chasing world is now full of flashy light "look at me" people driving with lights on, others driving down the road with people hanging out the windows, and 20 car caravans. I don't think I would even be noticed hiding on a side road somewhere by myself watching a storm go by.

 

[Rob Satkus]

Is this really in regards to all chasers or is this related to the post the other day of the false reports being called in up there in that part of the state? I see Matt is the newest member to Storm Track so maybe we should wait to hear from him before everyone gets their undies in a knot.
And if it is a big chaser crackdown, so be it...as others have already said...if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.

RS

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Glad to see Matt as our newest member. Hopefully he will chime in and give us his side of the story.

Like I said, if they're simply targeting those breaking the law then I'm all for that and fully support that.

 

[David Drummond]

Is this really in regards to all chasers or is this related to the post the other day of the false reports being called in up there in that part of the state? I see Matt is the newest member to Storm Track so maybe we should wait to hear from him before everyone gets their undies in a knot.
And if it is a big chaser crackdown, so be it...as others have already said...if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.

RS

I suspect Matt will be along as soon as possible to address any concerns. He requested an account specifically for that reason after the post the other day, and has been approved. Until then, I would caution against drawing a lot of unfounded conclusions folks. We all know how media doesn't always get the story right, or the full story, on the air.

 

[Aaron Dooley]

I think it is just one of those things where if we follow the laws we won't have any issues barring "Crane County" events. Aside from that, I think we will always get more favors from LEO (thank you Concho County) than the average person.

I also got an email from Matt Lehenbauer in Woodard EM, who I might see today, and he said:

"Give me a buzz if you are ever chasing in NWOK and we will help in any way we can."

-Dooley