Defnitely agree with you about night time, not a lot of point in getting that close or in the possible or actual path. I find the best views for viewing and photography day or night are often from the southeast or south (not in path) when a tornado is not wrain wrapped, from where a tornado often is brightly illuminated (reflected sun by day and lightning by night). People venture into the cage when they cannot otherwise get any view at all due to rain or scud, or because they like the thrill of being in or near the path. People have started to view all hook slicing as safe and normal and really just downplay all the risks of positioning that close. From the cage you usually have huge precip on one side and a tornado on the other, which is a lot to manage if anything goes wrong. From the southeast or south parallel to the hook, you have none of those problems as long as you keep enough distance. Near particulary intense storms and in poor roads, data, visibility, etc. I have no idea why anyone would want to chase in essentially a small box (notch) and hope it agrees with their road options, etc. vs backing off a bit.
A lot of talk goes around about expecting this or that direction when chasing that close, and it is not incorrect. Realistically though, ANY direction shift at ANY time is possible. Look at Greensburg or Manitoba or a ton of other storms showing loops and reversals of very powerful tornadoes without warning. Not to mention satellites, debris, etc. The fact is, people get some experience and think they are in control, but nature is in control. Standing off far enough to allow human response time to the unexpected is the only sensible thing, especially when running a tour where completely inexperienced people are trusting they will be lead safely near these storms. Just because soemone signs a waiver doesn't mean they expect to get hit. I've seen the 'they knew the risk' defense and completely disagree. People see a waiver as standard business stuff. Very few of us actually expect after signing a waiver to get hit by a tornado, have a parachute fail, bungee cord break, etc.
What really perplexes me is how people are obsessed with the tornado only (counting them, only chasing days that have tornado potential, etc)) and they thrive on the competition of it all. What happened to seeing what you can safely and enjoying nature? There are a lot of beautiful things to see around storms even when you cannot see a tornado. It all really resembles the dopamine loop of social media attention; a mindless obsession where common sense is rejected for the addiction and the attention.
Tour groups are the one place I would expect rigid control and adult responsibility. It is sad to see business success put over safety. I know several chasers I talked to ended their chase this same day at dark when they realized the roads, data, and situation were all getting bad. How does a tour operator not realize that this is a good time to call it a day after decades? I sure hope there is some explanation other than bad decisions. It seems many veteran chasers all end up forgetting to fear the storm enough to make good choices. It reminds me, again, to step up my own safety thinking and not get complacent just because I have become used to being near dangerous storms.
