Chasing Bases for Retirement

[James Wilson]

We have plenty of those for you!

This year I am climbing Mt. Elbert ... last year was Grays and Torreys. It's a nine hour drive now to get to the peaks so only one or two a year at best.

 

[Steven Marshall]

We had this subject going on wx chase a few years back. I propose a nursing home in say...Salina or Pratt Kansas area with wide veranda facing sw. The nurses can wheel our chairs out around noon time so we can watch the action.

 

[Steven Marshall]

I almost bought a house in St. John Kansas about 20 years ago. The prices were unbelievable low at the time AND the town was willing to give it to me for $1....provided I kept the grass cut etc. Darn near did it but for the life of me, I could not find a kid willing to mow regularly nor even a lawn care company is such a small town. I looked at this 2 bedroom brick home, with garage and a fenced yard....for $22,000! Still kicking myself over not moving on that one.

 

[Quincy Vagell]

Given what we've discussed, if you want the best of both worlds, meaning being on the Plains, but also being near the woods/forest and populated areas, it's hard to argue against the I-35/I-44 corridors from North Texas into Oklahoma/Kansas.

Even though eastern Colorado may not get a lot of snow, I would still argue that the winters are harsh. Cold weather is commonplace from October through April. Sure, there is fluctuation, but even when it's not snowing, with a stiff wind, bitterly cold wind chills will be frequent during the winter months. Blowing/drifting snow and near-zero visibility, even when it's not snowing. Snow cannot be ruled out in May, even...

I lived in New England for 27 years and I can speak to the winters being draining after a while. It's not just about being bitterly cold or snowing all the time, but having the potential for snow for more than half of the year and how things do not green up until April, at the earliest.

I like Oklahoma City for a lot of reasons. It's very centrally located and the climate is reasonable. You get a few cold/snowy days in the winter, but that's about it. I always thought New England was pretty, but the winters got to me quick and this is coming from someone who used to love winter storms!

 

[Matt Sellers]

Interesting to see talk about my home city in this thread... Pueblo is somewhat centrally located (a little west/southwest of 'ideal', granted), the cost of living is fairly low (especially compared to the rest of the I-25 corridor), is certainly close to the outdoor activities for which Colorado is famous (without all the traffic of Colorado Springs/Denver), and offers almost all forms of potentially extreme weather within a fifty-mile radius. If it's snowing in May, there's a great chance that you won't be around to experience it - you'll be well east or southeast in the active warm sector. Average temps in the winter are near freezing with average daily maxima in the mid-upper 40s, and average seasonal snowfall is around thirty inches in the city. Big hail is a nuisance when it jacks up your roof, and/or any vehicles you wish to keep free from dents; such occurrences are uncommon but represent the highest-probability damaging weather event in this area.

I don't think I'd retire anywhere else, though I'm biased.

 

[Jeff House]

After the chaser convergence this year, I'm not sure about Wichita. Maybe Kansas City gets one north for the latter half of the season. However it's quite a bit east of the High Plains. Lawrence is a great town, but I'm not biased in any way wearing my Jayhawks, lol!

Long as we are on I-70 Denver is another big city base. Can't argue with Pueblo or Cheyenne for mid-size markets. Omaha is another city with more amenities and culture than one might expect. I heard they are good stock pickers too, lol!

 

[Quincy Vagell]

After the chaser convergence this year, I'm not sure about Wichita. Maybe Kansas City gets one north for the latter half of the season. However it's quite a bit east of the High Plains. Lawrence is a great town, but I'm not biased in any way wearing my Jayhawks, lol!

Long as we are on I-70 Denver is another big city base. Can't argue with Pueblo or Cheyenne for mid-size markets. Omaha is another city with more amenities and culture than one might expect. I heard they are good stock pickers too, lol!

Omaha might be an underrated location with respect to chasing. It puts you in a prime location for June/July chasing. It keeps IA/IL targets easily in play. Sure, you’d be displaced relatively far away from the panhandles and other more southern targets, but it opens up the possibilities for sleeper days in the Dakotas/Minnesota. How about those fluky days in Iowa? Iowa often gets a bad reputation, but the state seems to have one or two sneaky good tornado days in most years. I’d trade down time for more chases with less hoards on the road with slow-moving summer supercells.

In terms of a city, Omaha is very diverse. It’s not quite on the level of KC or Chicago, but it’s close.

I had a friend who lived near Omaha (Bellevue) and I’d visit at least a few times in June/July. I’ve actually had a lot of chases in the Omaha/Valley CWA. Some of which rank among the best tornado days I’ve had.

Good call @Jeff House!

 

[Mikaela Norris]

Omaha might be an underrated location with respect to chasing. It puts you in a prime location for June/July chasing. It keeps IA/IL targets easily in play. Sure, you’d be displaced relatively far away from the panhandles and other more southern targets, but it opens up the possibilities for sleeper days in the Dakotas/Minnesota. How about those fluky days in Iowa? Iowa often gets a bad reputation, but the state seems to have one or two sneaky good tornado days in most years. I’d trade down time for more chases with less hoards on the road with slow-moving summer supercells.

In terms of a city, Omaha is very diverse. It’s not quite on the level of KC or Chicago, but it’s close.

I had a friend who lived near Omaha (Bellevue) and I’d visit at least a few times in June/July. I’ve actually had a lot of chases in the Omaha/Valley CWA. Some of which rank among the best tornado days I’ve had.

Good call @Jeff House!

This is why I'm so excited about getting stationed up in Omaha later this year. San Angelo has been great, but it's still pretty far south of most everything, except those random I-10 storms that seemed to like popping up earlier this year. And we even got an EF-2 of our own back on 18 May. But Omaha is a great city in a pretty good location.

 

[Warren Faidley]

After this year, I might start looking for property near Hobbs. Good storms this year and little or no convergence. Actually, no, I'd be bored to death there. (No offense to the residents).

 

[Bill Hark]

If one plans on retiring in Tornado Alley, retire in style. I usually use Wichita as a base when I am chasing. Here is an amazing house. Expensive, but quite cheap in comparison to what it would likely cost in the East. 1909 Classical Revival in Wichita, KS - $339,000 - Old House Dreams

 

[Warren Faidley]

ABQ would not be a bad place to retire if you have a desire to use it as a partial chase base. No major snow / cold issues and it's less than 3 hours to the western portions of the Alley. You also have the monsoon lightning storms and access to more exciting recreational activities to the N/NW. There are some nice communities on the outskirts of the city.

 

[Todd Lemery]

My wife and I seem to have settled on three finalists for our eventual retirement home. We were looking for low crime, low cost of living, within reasonable driving distance from a bigger city for facilities and airport, little snow and not a brutally hot summer. I of course want tornadoes and she doesn’t. The three finalists are Broken Arrow OK, one of the suburbs North of Dallas and Bentonville Arkansas (60 miles South of Joplin). There are other factors too. Any thoughts on these?areas?

 

[John Farley]

Well, I would consider all of those places brutally hot, but then I have a low tolerance for hot weather. ;-)

 

[Dan Robinson]

If I was presented with only those three options, Broken Arrow would be my choice. Northeast Arkansas is in the Ozarks, so there you're living in the forests a long way from good chasing terrain. You also don't have many direct highway routes out of there (into Kansas for example). DFW is almost always pretty far from the action on most spring events, not to mention having long, hot summers.

 

[Drew Terril]

@Todd Lemery NW Arkansas is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. Once the Bella Vista bypass is complete, access to Kansas won't be terrible, as it's simple enough to get up to Joplin and catch US-166 or 400 going west. No less of a direct route to Wichita than having to catch US-412 out of Tulsa to go to I-35 north, just a little farther.

I grew up in the Tulsa area, and these days do prefer the OKC area. City is in better shape financially, public safety isn't reliant on 25 year old radio systems, but cost of living isn't really any higher. One thing to keep in mind is, while the Tulsa area and NW Arkansas have a lower average temperature during the summer than DFW or OKC, the humidity most years is significantly higher. NW Arkansas will be the coolest during the summer of the three overall, but also the coldest during the winter and most likely to get snow due to the elevation. My dad lives in that area and it's certainly a nice area with plenty to do. Given those three, if a suburb of OKC such as Yukon isn't an option, I would probably choose NW Arkansas.