Chasers Stuck in the mud in SD

[Matthew K. Hartman]

I'm not sure exactly what kind of response you want, Chris, but yes, that's my car, parked on a lane on public land. There was private land nearby and "No Trespassing" signs posted and these were located on the barbed wire fencing that surrounded this small hill. You can see the fence behind my car, in fact, in the photo. Agriculture fields were to the south and west of this location; mainly containing winter wheat and wild grasses.

To answer the earlier post from Joey, yes, I was located about a mile and a half southeast of York, ND on this day (off of ND-30), waiting desperately for storms. I was miles and miles from the nearest storm (the closest was WAY west, west of Minot, even) and the only snap-decision I had to make was whether to call into the office for a nowcast update (pointless, really), or if I wanted to take a nap under the nearest tree. ND-30 was my N-S escape route and US-2 was my E-W. I was ready.

I actually ended up busting this evening because the capping inversion over Central ND suppressed bouyancy and the storms pushing into ND from MT were moving very slowly. I couldn't stay out long this evening since I was pulling the midnight shift, but convection did eventually move through later, dumping some hail and creating some marginally severe winds, but that was it.

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/070521_rpts.html

Response?

 

[A Luttig]

When assessing the damage of that field, you need to take into account a lot more than just the actual crops that were driven over. If that entire area of the field is rutted out, the farmer will not want to drive through that area in fear of damaging his equipment. The situation would be an entirely different one had this been a couple cars driving away from a tornado. Being storm chasers putting yourselves into possible harms way- will not buy you any favors with farmers.

At least it wasn't 20 tour vans stuck in that field.

 

[GlennMartin]

I am waiting for a picture of the mudbowl?

It appears that those involved are taking responsibility. While chasers are a loosely held together group we have no pr or legal department as such, a little pr and financial responsibility can go a long way in smoothing things over. Perhaps a letter of apology to any local authorities that were affected might also be in order. I know many of the chasers involved have good reputations and that is a good thing in this case.

What if the tornadoe(s) instead of dissipating actually grew larger and more violent what would have been your course of action? I am not raising this in a vindictive manner. I have been in similar situations where evasive action is required. I seek as with most others to limit them of course. Would you have remained in your vehicles or? Obviously a violent tornado is capable of lofting vehicles hundreds of feet into the air or bouncing them along the ground like a rubber ball and of course the results would have been unthinkable. Does anyone carry a motorcycle helmet or other protective gear? Of course that would not likely help in a worst case scenario. I am relieved for all those involved and don't want to appear insensitive or vindictive.

 

[Jason McKittrick]

Upon first seeing this thread I have to admit I was a little angry. My first impression was this is another example of the inconsiderate chaser circus that was so well documented this month in Oklahoma. However after reading the names of the people involved I realized that this was one of those unfortunate situations that could and in some cases have happened to all of us. Somebody mentioned that there is an opportunity for these chasers to get some positive publicity for the community. That sparked a thought. It would be a bigger news story if all 1400 of us who are members of Stormtrack each contributed 5 dollars. This incident is not just a bad decision by a couple of chaser but is the effect of the chaser culture that has evolved. None of us are immune to this sort of incident and I am certain that all of us would have made the same decision if placed in that same position. Just a thought let me know what you think. And just for the record I am not defending their decision to try and get with in a mile of the tornado, but it is something that all of us some to be aspiring to as of late.

 

[Matthew K. Hartman]

Your heart is in the right place, Jason, wanting to rally the troops, but personally, I strive to avoid being in these situations altogether, take chasing VERY seriously (probably to a fault), and pay much more than $5 in gas to chase safely already.

I've more than contributed my share to perpetuating a safe chasing community.

I tried a "troop rally," myself, over a year ago, by proposing a sort-of "one-stop educational web-site" for the chase community and I received very little response and no support from veteran chasers. Even offering to pay the web-hosting and domain registration out of my own pocket. I gave up.

Upon first seeing this thread I have to admit I was a little angry. My first impression was this is another example of the inconsiderate chaser circus that was so well documented this month in Oklahoma. However after reading the names of the people involved I realized that this was one of those unfortunate situations that could and in some cases have happened to all of us. Somebody mentioned that there is an opportunity for these chasers to get some positive publicity for the community. That sparked a thought. It would be a bigger news story if all 1400 of us who are members of Stormtrack each contributed 5 dollars. This incident is not just a bad decision by a couple of chaser but is the effect of the chaser culture that has evolved. None of us are immune to this sort of incident and I am certain that all of us would have made the same decision if placed in that same position. Just a thought let me know what you think. And just for the record I am not defending their decision to try and get with in a mile of the tornado, but it is something that all of us some to be aspiring to as of late.

 

[Johnathan Brouwer]

No pictures? Come on, lets see the mud to the center hub shots! I want to see what this FU looked like

I am glad all are OK and most importantly glad to see discussions with property owner over compensations...

I got the first 50 bucks in the kitty for the paper maps/ tow winch fund...THIS is the best read on ST in weeks!

 

[Nathan Edwards]

As I believe the second car down that road, yesterday, I can tell you that most of us were mobile well ahead of the storm at what would be considered a pretty safe distance. Most of us where taking that road to try and be cautious and keep well ahead of the storm. I was driving east whilst a photogenic tornado was in the background. I preferred to get to the next N-S road before shooting for safety reasons and we had no reason to believe the road was a dead end. No markings, no signs, and our GPS said go, so we went.

The meso producing the tornado at the time was north of us, though the storm was reconsolidating quickly to the south. I made it 2 miles down the road, before the chaser ahead of me came back the other way saying the road was out. At this point I turned around to drive back, but with other chasers heading this way, it resulted in a huge jam. Our route back was blocked by another tornado coming towards that location. We moved to the end of the road by the field, and the tornado crossed close to where we had been. More tornadoes formed heading our way. With a traffic jam of about 12 cars, I took to the field. I stayed to very close to the edge as did most chasers both for the higher ground and to minimise crop damage, however further tornadoes were developing south and when we reached a pool of water, we had to head inland into the heart of the field where we were forced to wait it out. Nobody not there can appreciate how many and how fast this thing was spinning up tornadoes left, right, north, south. From different areas of the meso also, so not strictly multiple vortex. As it happened, the area in the field we ended up in was skirted by all the tornadoes and vortices. Nobody took significant damage except the crop, and I imagine the flooding did more damage than we did. Everyone has chipped in to reimburse him for our damage and we have been pulled out and are ready to chase tomorrow in most cases!


It was a bad situation. I doubt any of us blame the farmer for wanting some sort of recompense although I personally have my issues with how the police officer handle the whole situation. In the end of the day, we've all come off a bit wiser, a bit poorer, either through insurance excesses or straight payment to the farmer but we've escaped with our lives. Really, we should have taken much more damage to our cars in that situation also. How we weren't hailed to oblivion I don't know. The thing is, nobody intended or did anything wrong to get into this situation. It was just a bad set of circumstances on the craziest storm in a long time.


Not all of this incident should be looked at in bad light. Bart Comstock and Mike Umscheid were transporting people, luggage and gas back and forth between Aberdeen and Ipswich through the night and Bart didn't get to sleep till 5:30 or later, then carted us all back out again today. I wish some people in here would focus on the good that comes out of these sort of events rather than the negatives!

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Upon first seeing this thread I have to admit I was a little angry. My first impression was this is another example of the inconsiderate chaser circus that was so well documented this month in Oklahoma. However after reading the names of the people involved I realized that this was one of those unfortunate situations that could and in some cases have happened to all of us. Somebody mentioned that there is an opportunity for these chasers to get some positive publicity for the community. That sparked a thought. It would be a bigger news story if all 1400 of us who are members of Stormtrack each contributed 5 dollars. This incident is not just a bad decision by a couple of chaser but is the effect of the chaser culture that has evolved. None of us are immune to this sort of incident and I am certain that all of us would have made the same decision if placed in that same position. Just a thought let me know what you think. And just for the record I am not defending their decision to try and get with in a mile of the tornado, but it is something that all of us some to be aspiring to as of late.

I think that is a great idea, I definitely would contribute to help them out.

 

[JSmith]

Looks like the next standed item for the chase car will be a winch.

As somebody who uses truck mounted winches on a daily basis, they're pretty much useless unless you're in the woods.


Many times on a slick road, you will simply pull another person into whatever muck you're already stuck in.


Tire chains would be a far better standard item.

 

[Danny Neal]

I could never ask you guys to help us for our mistake, but thank you for all of your support!

 

[JSmith]

the farmer will not want to drive through that area in fear of damaging his equipment.

LMAO.... Have you ever met a farmer? They're some of the craziest mofos out there!

And farmers make ruts intentionally.... Ruts arent gonna mess their equipment up.

 

[Jay Cazel]

As somebody who uses truck mounted winches on a daily basis, they're pretty much useless unless you're in the woods.


Many times on a slick road, you will simply pull another person into whatever muck you're already stuck in.


Tire chains would be a far better standard item.

Yeah after looking at the pictures of where they were stuck...it would not have helped.

 

[JSmith]

Here's a small portion of my experience in similar conditions.

http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj281/burner50_photos/Muck/

 

[Jason McKittrick]

My thought is that through such a showing we might demonstrate that our community does not consist of a bunch of reckless, selfish, careless, indifferent, thrill seekers just looking for 30 seconds of fame from someone else's loss. I am not suggesting that these chasers did not make a bad decision, but this poor farmer was a victim of our hobby. This could have happened to almost any of us. I think that by chipping in as a community it would show others that we are sensitive of the affect our hobby has on others whether it is the farmer in this situation or someone that we cutoff in traffic or the guy who's yard in which we park.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

I think those that got stuck in the mud had an experience that will remain clear in their minds of all the chases that they have ever been on. Of course, that is a guess. But when one considers all of the circumstances involved, I would say that it is a fair guess. Actually I would have liked to have been there too. I don't relish the angry farmer and having to appease him and his field.

I was west of Mitchell SD and busted and drove back to Iowa. My timing was off and so was my forecast. Had I stayed, I wouldn't have seen the better storms in the south along I-90 AS you did up north along front. The pictures were astounding and the video was tense and somewhat frightening. What made you get in that position with the storm motion coming right at you? Would it have been un-viewable had you been on one side of the base instead of underneath?

The base of that storm was so incredibly close to the surface. Looks like you still did well under that low light condition.