Chasing Frequency Question

[Carla Bisby]

I chased about 11 or 12 times this year (MO,KS,CO,IL,IN). My work schedule is pretty limiting as far as chasing goes.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

Well, I started chasing in 1998 and I get out with my uncle or a friend whenever I can. A lot of times, I make last minute decisions and head out quickly. That's easy to do in my area, since southwestern Ontario isn't very big and the Great Lakes limit on far I can go :lol:

Normally, I average about 5 chases a year, but there are years where I haven't had the opportunity to head out as often as I'd like (either due to time and distance of expected storms or I was just too busy). I notice that I have been pickier on which storms to chase lately... I won't head out just for a typical fast moving, thin squall line anymore. If a supercell is within reachable distance and the timing is good, heading out is not a question. Since I cannot drive, I have to rely on my uncle or a friend who shares the same interest as me.

To get an idea how often I chase, go here
http://laurawx.ontariostorms.com/chase.htm

I've only been out 3 times this year. The season did have a good start in May, but things slowly quieted down as summer approached. Despite the lack of chases this year, I have seen some very interesting things, such as a long funnel, which looked like was on the ground but hard to tell because of the treeline, and a rare Ontario classic supercell with rotating wall cloud. Unfortunately RFD did not kick in and no tornado was born.

I hope to someday save enough money and go to Tornado Alley to experience what real chasing is like. I am kinda getting tired of the lack of supercells here in Ontario. Perhaps I just have to wait for a really good season to happen.

 

[Chris Frost]

Been chasing for two years, spotting since i could drive. Between 2003 and 2004 i've seen 1 tor and about a handful of wall clouds. Work and home obligations have kept me a little busy but I feel my junior year in chasing will be a breakout year or should i say "outbreak"

 

[Jeremy Lemanski]

Mostly just locally within the county, living in huron county which is surrounded by water on three sides gets very annoyinh at times, since storms that move to the NE, east or SE have a very limited about of time to produce severe weather before moving out into the waters of the great lakes. I hope to expand my chasing to much of the rest of the state either next spring or the following.

 

[mikegeukes]

My chasing is limited to West Michigan, I take care of my father
who is 75 and a diabetic with a bad back and walks with a cane.

Went out 43 times this year in West Michigan, saw 0 tornadoes,
the NWS GRR CWA had only 3 reports of tornadoes, this year,
all were F0's, one tornado was never warned, one was reported
late and the other happen in grunge. Not a great year for our area.

Mike

 

[Robert Dewey]

My chasing is limited to West Michigan, I take care of my father
who is 75 and a diabetic with a bad back and walks with a cane.

Went out 43 times this year in West Michigan, saw 0 tornadoes,
the NWS GRR CWA had only 3 reports of tornadoes, this year,
all were F0's, one tornado was never warned, one was reported
late and the other happen in grunge. Not a great year for our area.

Mike

Yeah, we really need a July 2nd, 1997 event to blow through again (or perhaps a June, 1953 event which featured 3 or 4 significant tornadoes (one F5, and a long tracked F4))...

This year pretty much sucked... I went out too many times to count, even during "night events" (Okay, I was desperate, LOL). I did manage to catch a "gustnado" over a very large construction site (the site was about 1 square mile of pure dirt/dust)... And, the rest was all weak squalls and very heavy rain...

I did miss the Indianapolis tornado though - That was my target for the day, but then the car started having trans. problems, and some other B.S. happened, so I missed it...