Circus Chasing Texas Panhandle

[Greg Stumpf]

Greg, I agree with everything you said except for that one point. I believe the mobile mesonet cars from VORTEX and the original white NOAA chase vans were the inspiration for the modern chase vehicle, which predated the movies and media vehicles. At least those are what I think of when I think 'chase vehicle'. Of course, that may not be true for newer chasers who aren't familiar with the originals, only the second generation media/movie vehicles.

VORTEX was in the mid 1990s. I'm talking about the veterans who started this hobby, well before the mid 1990s.

Also, there was not one single decal on the VORTEX probes, except if you count the bland black-and-white door magnets id'ing them as government vehicles. And they had......no.......(Drummond, be quiet)........light bars.

Nevertheless, I will agree that the VORTEX geek-mobiles started a trend (not necessarily a bad one). Now, if only most folks with MMs could log their data and supply it to researchers (better yet, upload it live for warning forecasters). This would add immense value to the hobby and our public perception. The roof jungle-gyms that are only there for show are not helping anything but to attract attention to one's self.

BTW - I have noticed a few media chasers complain about the groupies/latch-ons impeding their ability to chase. Perhaps if you were more incognito, you would attract less of that undesired attention (if course, this probably isn't your decision, but your employer's).

 

[Terry Tyler]

There will never be any bill or legislation that will ban or regulate storm chasing. A bill like that would be impossible to enforce since there is nothing illegal about driving around in the plains unless you're breaking already existing laws (speeding, wreckless driving, etc...). And alot of chasers tend to chase commando, that is they don't have anything on their vehicle that would indicate they're a chaser.. so how would they be able to prove they're storm chasers?

Anyways, we beat this topic to death year after year - it's frustrating but at the same time I know nothing will change. No matter how long of an essay we write up about the subject, no matter how we present our opinions, there will still be storm chasers that are wreckless.

All I can do is just make sure I'm doing my part to present myself in a respectable manner while out chasing and make sure that I'm doing so in a safe manner. Safety has always been and always will be #1 when I'm out chasing.

i strongly agree...there is no need to continually discuss this issue...nothing anyone says will change the fact people will misbehave...

there are wreckless chasers, and there will always be wreckless chasers...im sure some of these individuals do not belong to ST or even care about the ethical aspects of chasing storms...there will always be that individual who wants to mess something up...and no matter how wrong it may be...there is nothing anyone can do to stop it...

safety has, and always will be my number 1 priority when chasing storms...the moral and intellectual aspects of a chaser is what will define he/she when she is out there...as cops know there are yahoo chasers out there, im sure they are also aware of respectful chasers...

there is no need to dwell on the negativity someone else is bringing to your special event...

i do my best to avoid chaser convergences and cops...and represent the chaser community when i am out in the field...be respecful, and try to change the stereotype...that is all you can do...

 

[David Drummond]

Sorry Greg, gotta do it...

http://www.answers.com/topic/nssl-vehicles-on-project-vortex-jpg

Hmmm...amber rotating light on every one of them.

One of my favorite pages of older chase vehicles:

http://www.stormeyes.org/tornado/vehicles/

Couple of veterans in there with some stuff attached to their vehicles.


I just had a thought about this:

Expounding....the media (and "movie") chasers are the ones in the limelight, and can easily be identified with the masses. A new chaser to the hobby could think that these types are the "typical" chaser.

There are only a handful of veterans (defining for this discussion as a handful that have been chasing more than 20 years), I would venture to see there are probably MORE media chasers today than there are veterans, certainly so if you include the freelancers and they are out on most every good chase day. Would that not then make them the more "typical" chaser than the older veterans that don't get out chasing as many days any more?

 

[Donald Cannon]

Long time reader, first time poster. I am a little curious how the chase tour groups seem to be getting a pass when it comes to all of this talk about the masses out there chasing. I know there are a lot of "veteran chasers" who are involved with these and so it probably falls under the "do as I say, not as do" catagory much like the example David D. just posted but I still would think it would get some mention. After reading Dr. Doswell's essay on chaser saftey and the risks out there I bet he just goes nuts at the thought of these people doing these chase tours just to make a few bucks.

 

[David Drummond]

Long time reader, first time poster. I am a little curious how the chase tour groups seem to be getting a pass when it comes to all of this talk about the masses out there chasing. I know there are a lot of "veteran chasers" who are involved with these and so it probably falls under the "do as I say, not as do" catagory much like the example David D. just posted but I still would think it would get some mention. After reading Dr. Doswell's essay on chaser saftey and the risks out there I bet he just goes nuts at the thought of these people doing these chase tours just to make a few bucks.

This might help answer your question:

http://www.tempesttours.com/tour6.html
http://www.tempesttours.com/charles_doswell.html

and a blast from 1999:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:9hqShBnl_SwJ:www.flame.org/~cdoswell/chaser_irresp.html+chuck+doswell+chase+tour&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=14&gl=us

Let the buyer beware when getting involved with a storm chasing tour group. I am not willing to endorse anyone who offers a service ... I've seen some things done by these chase tour "guides" that look pretty irresponsible to me.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I have the utmost respect for Doswell, but we talk about how the veteran chasers don't do this and that... but then I see this essay written by Dr. Doswell griping about chase tour groups and how evil they are, and yet now he himself is with a tour group.

Seems pretty irresponsible to me being that most of the complaints we hear from fellow storm chasers involves these tour groups and their action.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

Sorry Greg, gotta do it...

Hmmm...amber rotating light on every one of them.

But no.....light bars (which are a lot more attention grabbing than a single amber light). Plus, we were permitted to run the amber only when operating slowly under 40 mph, while collecting MM data.

One of my favorite pages of older chase vehicles:

http://www.stormeyes.org/tornado/vehicles/

Couple of veterans in there with some stuff attached to their vehicles.

Where are the decals? Actually, you make my point with this page - most of these vehicles are piles of crap with no decals, no light bars. They are the antithesis of "attracting attention."

I would venture to see there are probably MORE media chasers today than there are veterans, certainly so if you include the freelancers and they are out on most every good chase day. Would that not then make them the more "typical" chaser than the older veterans that don't get out chasing as many days any more?

Not sure there are more media chasers than veterans, but there are certainly more chasers emulating the media chasers than there are veterans. That's the point I was trying to make. The "typical" chaser for the new folks is not the same "typical" chaser when I entered the hobby over 20 years ago.

I still agree with most posters that the irresponsible chasers are in the minority of all chasers, but I feel that their proportion to all chasers has increased since I started. So, not only are there more vehicles out there, but a larger percentage of them fall into the irresponsible camp, which compounds the problem.

We can continue to debate this, but I think the bottom line is that we should strive to steer the new chasers toward the responsible chaser camp, or else we will find our hobby in jeopardy.

BTW, another way to put chasers in a positive light is to contribute to the Storms of 2007 DVD, and us market this in every way possible. This is an opportunity to band together as a selfless group.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

I have the utmost respect for Doswell, but we talk about how the veteran chasers don't do this and that... but then I see this essay written by Dr. Doswell griping about chase tour groups and how evil they are, and yet now he himself is with a tour group.

Chuck's intention was to single out the "fly-by-night" tour groups that seem to be run be folks claiming to have all sorts of "chase experience". Note that he mentions two groups in a positive light. The tour group Chuck is affilitiated with is, in my opinion (and probably Chuck's), the most responsible and professional tour group out there (Tempest Tours), and they were founded after Chuck wrote this essay. One of the reasons they are so highly regarded is because of the folks involved, who are sticklers when it comes to chaser safety, courtesy, and responsibility.

 

[Donald Cannon]

One of the reasons they are so highly regarded is because of the folks involved, who are sticklers when it comes to chaser safety, courtesy, and responsibility.

I am not really sure how you can be a stickler about saftey with all of the crazy "twister movie/media" chasers out there. Does not seem real responsible to me to drive around a bunch of tourist in order to make a buck, that is almost as bad as trying to sell video to the TeeVee!

 

[David Drummond]

But no.....light bars (which are a lot more attention grabbing than a single amber light). Plus, we were permitted to run the amber only when operating slowly under 40 mph, while collecting MM data.

Oh sorry, I didn't realize chaser ethics distinguished between one single light and 4 lights enclosed in a plastic casing. My bad... I doubt anyone noticed the single light with all the instruments sticking 4 feet about the roof of a fleet of cars anyway.

Why was VORTEX permitted to run the lights under 40 while collecting data? For SAFETY reasons maybe?


I'm sorry, but the real issue was clogging of the roads and driving habits. Not what people adorned their cars with. Personally I don't care if chasers wrap their cars in Christmas lights and put a giant inflatable Santa Clause on top holding an anemometer. If that's what they like to do, it might look silly, but good on them. The last I checked this was still a free country and your allowed to customize your vehicle in any way you see fit as long as it doesn't violate the law and passes safety inspections, regardless if some beer drinking cowboy in a lawn chair likes it or not. It's not the 80's or the 90s any more. We are in the 21st century and like or not, things have changed.

What I DO care about is if someone is having poor driving habits that are effecting lots of people. The correlation between stuff on your vehicle and driving habits are at best a weak argument, yet every time this subject comes up, it's thrown in to the mix.

If we took the same 200 vehicles out there and put them along that same stretch of road with the same drivers, yet all of the vehicles had to be factory stock, with NOTHING added to them externally, the problem would still be EXACTLY the same.

 

[Greg Stumpf]

If we took the same 200 vehicles out there and put them along that same stretch of road with the same drivers, yet all of the vehicles had to be factory stock, with NOTHING added to them externally, the problem would still be EXACTLY the same.

I agree, and I guess we did go off on an improper tangent here. I tried to clarify in an earlier post that not all media chasers are bad. However, there are some media chasers that are very irresponsible (most of them are not on this board). I think the point I was trying to drive home was that the role model that some new chasers are emulating now is very different than the role models of the past, as evidenced by a couple of the names mentioned near the end of this thread (OMG!). That includes trying to imitate those new role models in their chasing and video style, or their vehicular appearances emulating a media or a scientific research team. I'm also willing to bet that some of that motivation might be that if they "look official", then they stand a better chance at getting the recognition (and perhaps a pass through a roadblock).

So what can we do to address the original problem? I think for one, any media outlet should not glorify the yahoo chaser. Unfortunately, that is happening all too often now, and we probably can't do anything about it. Shaky, out of focus, screaming, XTREME JACKASS-like video is what the media prefers to show now, instead of expertly tripoded and composed artistic footage. Does anyone recall Martin Lisius' "The Chasers of Tornado Alley" or "Chasing The Wind" from the early 1990s? Highly recommended.

BTW - I will at least commend David for the very positive portrayal of the work he and the other chasers to for his station that I recall seeing online last year. That painted his station's media chasers in a very positive light.

 

[David Drummond]

So what can we do to address the original problem? I think for one, any media outlet should not glorify the yahoo chaser. Unfortunately, that is happening all too often now, and we probably can't do anything about it. Shaky, out of focus, screaming, XTREME JACKASS-like video is what the media prefers to show now, instead of expertly tripoded and composed artistic footage. Does anyone recall Martin Lisius' "The Chasers of Tornado Alley" or "Chasing The Wind" from the early 1990s? Highly recommended.

I think this is just the video trend of the day and goes well beyond storm chasing video. I believe it started back when COPS became popular. A lot of this style started showing up on MTV, and then in some places in movies and TV shows. I guess viewers "like" to see it or they would stop showing it. I guess it adds a level of excitement for the every day viewer (not necessarily us chasers) and more of a "you are there" feel? I MUCH prefer tripoded stuff or at least braced and mostly still. That stuff moving all over literally makes me nausiated trying to watch it. One guy that is a member here has gotten some WICKED up close stuff....but it was all over the place and just made me want to buy him a good tripod for Christmas!

BTW, thanks for the comments. I am certainly far from perfect in the chaser ethics arena, but I DO insist on a positive slant on storm chasers and chasing any time I am asked in front of the camera.

Despite all our (the community as a whole) differences and contrasting opinions on some things that really don't matter in the whole scope of things, and despite the in-fighting that goes on in the chase community, I still believe deep down, that when it gets right down to the nitty gritty on storm day, 99% of storm chasing/chasers are doing a good thing.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Where can I get a nice, big, plastic, illuminated Santa Claus for cheap? 12V electrics would be best.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

I am not really sure how you can be a stickler about saftey with all of the crazy "twister movie/media" chasers out there. Does not seem real responsible to me to drive around a bunch of tourist in order to make a buck, that is almost as bad as trying to sell video to the TeeVee!

Would you rather have these tourists with no experience out there running around on their own?

How is this any different than making a dollar any other way in a capitalistic society?

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

I think if people would take the time to look, there are farm field access roads everywhere. These little raised areas where farmers drive their tractors onto the fields from the highway provide plenty of room to pull your car onto. I guess that's the only thing that annoys me. There are so many places to park your car other than on the side of the highway. It's stupid, in the way, and just laziness. You need to put driving logic before the storm. I'm sorry if you aren't in position when the wall cloud or whatever you want to film forms, but when it does don't just hit the brakes, look for a freaking place to pull off that makes more sense. That way others trying to find a place can do so without having to look for your idiot self running around in the highway or having the @$$ end of your car hanging out in their way.