Could you do it?

[Dick McGowan]

Not too long ago, there used to be chasers with no data, no mobile radar, no GPS, no SPC mesoanalysis, no cell phones, just weather models, perhaps, on a dial up connection the morning of, or the night before...and a weather radio or ham radio at best.

It got me thinking about how easy it is for one to see a tornado today. Anyone can do it, and you don't even really need to be a "chaser" any more. Heck, you don't even need to know how to forecast. You just need an internet connection to view the SPC's Day 1 outlook...then drive to that area where the highest probability is...wait for the Mesoscale Discussion to come out (if things go well of course)...then drive into your tornado watch....and wait for a storm to fire (or find a "known" name on spotternetwork on your fancy GR3). Walla, your chances of seeing a tornado are pretty high, for a good moderate or high risk day in May!

So...do you think you could throw out all of your "toys" and the live video streams, GPS, radar, laptops, cell phones.....look at the models the night before (or morning of) and successfully intercept a tornado? I've often thought about this...and have wanted to "try" it sometime, but of course I chicken out...especially in April/May/early June. It would be fun to try it out the "old" way sometime for kicks...if gas wasn't $4.00 a gallon and the chaser crowds weren't so thick. But do you think you could pull it off (I know many of you have!) or would consider trying it again?

 

[Tyler_Costantini]

I remember chasing in the mid to late 90s for the first time! It really sucked! Things are so much easier now days! Some people talk about the crowds and what not now but I really don't mind! I would trade modern chase data for crowded roads any day! I don't know how they did it back then but props!

 

[Dean Baron]

Nah, probably not. i have chased with limited resources (MyCast on my cell phone for warnings/radar) and that was hard enough, i dont think i could do it with no resources. but that is probably because i started chasing when using this technology was the way to do it. im sure in 20 years a lot of people will ask how in the world people successfully chased in 2008.

 

[Chris Nuttall]

I remember chasing in the mid to late 90s for the first time! It really sucked! Things are so much easier now days! Some people talk about the crowds and what not now but I really don't mind! I would trade modern chase data for crowded roads any day! I don't know how they did it back then but props!

Mid 90s? It was like this back when I started in 2001. Remember when people were talking about putting DirecTV dishes on the back of their vans to get an Internet connection? The only two things I went out with were my cell phone, a ham radio, and my Delorme maps. I didn't get GPS until 2003. I've only had data while chasing for the last two years. I would not have scored on May 5, 2007 without mobile internet, but nothing really would have changed for me on May 29 of this year because my target was dead on.

I will admit that all of my chases where I scored a tornado, I did have access to some kind of data away from home. Although, in 2004 and 2005 it was limited to truck stop/hotel/restaurant WiFi.

I've lived in the Panhandle for about a year now, so I'm still not very familiar with a lot of the roads and landmarks out here. But, I still have my Delorme paper maps, and I keep those in the car at all times. If it was a chase in the Panhandle for me, I would be totally willing to go chase "old school."

Anywhere else, I'd have to take everything with me and go all out. If I'm getting to chase outside my area, I'm going to use everything I've got because I don't want to drive so far and spend all that money on gas just to go and miss storms again. My chase opportunites are too limited to play around.

 

[Wesley Luginbyhl]

I have seen tornadoes on days where all I had was a map and listening to the am radio for updates, but I also busted a lot more back then too. It makes you appreciate all those toys. It might be fun to do ever once and a while, but I will take whatever advantage I can get. I can probably go without data (my connection messes up a lot anyways), but having gps has to be one of the greatest tools that I can't go without. My hat does go off to those who did it without all these toys we have now.

 

[Josh Richardson]

Yeah, it was like this back when I first started chasing as well(of course only in Iowa/MN though). There is probably no way I could revert back to this style now as I believed I'm too spoiled on having info right at my fingertips.

BTW Dick, love the OWS avatar!!

 

[Adam Lucio]

Ive chased where my only glances at radar were truck stops, and NOAA radio/paper maps only. Didnt see tornados on those days, but there were none in the area I was chasing in general.

If I lived in the plains and could chase 20+ times a year, I may be more inclined to give it a shot...but being a midwesterner I can generally only head out there on the big days to make it worth while, and id rather not decrease my odds.

Hell, all the data and stuff doesnt work half the time once I get out to where I need to be anyways. often times the radar image is 20 minutes old so theres still a certain level of "instinct" that needs to come into play. I think it creates a good balance.

 

[Paul Knightley]

My 1st visit to the Plains in 1998 saw me chase with just a weather radio, an atlas, and the Weather Channel. Saw no tornadoes, but got a few good storms, and enjoyed the whole experience of not quite knowing. Although I love all the data (and this applies to the UK too), sometimes it's nice to have an unexpected storm, rather than knowing that one's definately not on the way!

 

[Lanny Dean]

For years that was the way we chased, infact, Randy Hicks still chases that way to this day. I can recall chasing the "old school" way until 2005. And 2004 was my best year to date: 49 tornadoes and all with nothing more than a weather radio/scanner.
I jumped on the band wagon in 2005 and started trying different things but it was not until 2007 that I had full radar (StormLab) and all the goodies.
Kinda miss those days.....and then again sometimes I don't!

 

[Brandon Ivey]

I could do it again, but I don't think I would have as much fun with the storms as I do today! I chased without much equipment prior to 2005. The extent of my gear prior to 2005 was a scanner, a weather radio, road maps, and occasionally a small tv (to pick up local stations). I remember the quick pit stops at libraries back in those days, but that was prior to initiation, in most cases.

In 2005 I used MTN and switched to GRlevel3 in 2006.

My best year for capturing photogenic tornadoes was in 2004, without the laptop, gps, grlevel3, and internet access from the road.

With the laptop...2005 and 2006 were relatively quiet years for me with not much action. 2007 and 2008 were awesome years!

Would I go back to chasing old-school without the laptop? No

 

[Skip Talbot]

Dick, that is how most of us started out. In 2004 I bagged my first tornado with only a weather radio. I disagree that its as easy as driving to the center of the Day 1 tor probs and catching a tor warned storm, or hunting someone down on spotter network. I've busted plenty of times being in the center of the tor probs even with all my gadgets. We all know how foolproof the tornado forecasts are not. Hunting someone down on spotternetwork means you share their bust not your own. There is a lot one has to learn the hardway over years of chasing, including driving around various storm structures, and getting your timing down with stops, intercepts, and road options.

We add to our tech arsenal to improve our odds, not garuntee them. Its actually quite liberating to chase without a lot of technology. You spend more time watching the sky. You have a little more wonder trying to visualize what's happening around you. The trick I've found is to use your tools to get to the right place at the right time, and then keep your eyes in the sky after that. I could chase without the gadgetry again, but why would I want to? Each chase day is precious and I want to make the most of it.

 

[Verne Carlson]

My first chases in the early 90's were with the AM radio and a weather radio velcro'ed to the dash. You'd go visual as soon as you left home and chase the biggest overshooting top you could see.

Later I added a 5" B&W TV and you could hopefully see a couple of pixels of a radar on the little side screen on top of the daytime soaps.

In the late 90's I started pulling the Direct TV dish off the house for the spring and had it on a tripod. It'd take a while but you could get TWC pulled up and get a look at the 'local on the 8's' radar.

I remember on one chase to WY in '99 we imagined having a laptop and a gps and you'd be able to see everything on one screen. In 2004 I got WXWORX and it was a dream come true.

All the technology these day's is great. I can't ever see throwing it out and going back to the days of little data.

 

[Jason Branz]

Guess I'm in the minority here...I love chasing with little data. I look at it as a meteorology exam...do your analysis in the morning, read the sky, immerse yourself in the environment, and listen to the wx radio for obs to see how conditions are changing. If you pass, you catch a supercell and/or tornado; if not, then you get a suntan and an Allsup's burrito. Sure, it's not the most cost-effective, with gas being $4 last season, but it makes the catch that much sweeter. This year was my first year solo chasing with a laptop, and it really distracted me. I found myself second-guessing everything, then finding that my first instincts were correct.

 

[John Erwin]

Somebody coined the term "chasing naked" for this a few years ago.

Up here in Canada you don't have much choice since there's effectively no "live" radar available (10 minutes delayed to public), unless you're lucky enough to be chasing in one of the "overlap" areas with radar from the U.S. I'm fully equipped in my ride but it's a combination of having a good forecast and keen visual skills that gets you the storm more than anything else here.

 

[Andrea Griffa]

Skip is right; probably that is how the most of us started to chase. Anyway it would be not simple to chase as our friends did in the 70' .
As far as me, give me a GRLevel 3 and weather maps, I don't want more