It's a LOT of fun!! I get more chances to chase these tube bands than in the Plains. The last time I chased was Katrina, in Georgia and around here - NW tip of SC. It was awesome. The storms are very difficult to track though. During last years Ivan, tubes would drop out of the sky, and not even show on radar. They were moving @ 45-50mph, which was difficult to keep up with. During Katrina, the storms were easier to track, and more traditional-like. Supercells, and the one I followed had the great bowl-shape, layered thing going, and produced a funnel. We had one F-2, and there were several F-1's, and a couple of F-0's. When chasing the bands, look for elongated lines, usually more than 150 miles from the "eye". Some cases were 300 miles from the center. The individual cells can be awesome, but unlike a lot of "normal" supercells, storms develope in these long lines all the time. In all of the bands I've chased, and it's quite a few, I've yet to encounter hail with them. That's not to say you won't ever encounter it, but the air is so tropical, hail has a hard time developing, and staying as hail. The inflow in the last band I chased was intense, and then it rained a little, and the drops were HUGE. Probably melted hail, and it was NOT rain-wrapped either, which was unusual. All in all, chasing the bands are definately worth it, but you need reliable radar in your chase vehicle, because anything less than that, and you will constantly be "chasing your own tail".
*EDIT I'm hoping to leave Saturday morning for Tyler, TX up towards Springfield, MO. IMO, this looks to be a good spot, but things change pretty fast, so we'll see. BTW - good luck to all of the chasers out there who are going after Rita. I would seriously think twice about it though. I guess it really depends on just how close you REALLY dare to get. But at rate - good luck, and drive smart!!
