• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Chasing in California

Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
305
Location
Lake Tahoe, CA
Hey all,

I recently moved from Tulsa, OK to the foothills of the sierras about an hour east of Sacramento. I plan to return to the plains to chase during subsequent springs; however, I'm interested in bagging the rare California tornado. I know there are a few chasers on the forum from the California area, and I'm hoping to get some insight into trying to chase the elusive Calinado. Like most chasers, my typical stomping grounds are the southern plains, high plains, and northern plains. I'm comfortable in those environments and have been chasing there for going on 18 years. I've heard from a couple chasers that chasing the central valley is different from chasing the plains. So, if anyone with insight and suggests would be willing to give me pointers on chasing in California, I would greatly appreciate it as I am not going to rest until I score one.
 
No direct experience, David, but I've considered driving up from SoCal. My observations over the years:

- Usually post-frontal, very low CAPE, high shear mini-sups
- Central Valley seems to be where shortwaves encounter enough heat & moisture for decent buoyancy and isolated afternoon storms
- Either side of 99 on farm roads looks chaseable
- I've seen the SPC put a slight risk outlook on the best set-ups
- Local FDs are a good way to monitor potential
- Whenever a big fall or winter storm system is heading into California, I begin watching for potential severe. For me it's usually a waterspout chase, but I've seen a couple of supercells as well.

I'm guessing some decent storms get unreported in the central valley each year due to remoteness. Could be fun, even if only marginally severe, just to get in the mood for the upcoming chase season!
 
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