Do you core punch?

[Scott Olson]

I am a lot more likely to core punch for the sake of core punching (hail kamikaze) then say punching a core to get in the right position for an approaching meso. Common sense and intution help dictate which cores to avoid and use of Level II/III radar data is important to make sure the cell doesn't have some ridiculous 50-60dbz heights. In most instances it's pretty easy to back off if the hail seems to extreme. In the case of having to punch a core to get into optimal position, it just depends on the situation and all the factors involved.

 

[Dean Gill]

Like other said, it depends on the situation. I also have two limitations, the first one is that I come from Switzerland and I have to rent a car... I woudn't like to return a car completely ruined and without windshield. Secondly, some of my chase mates are not always eager to enter the storm so there's quite a lot of negociation going on inside the vehicle to decide whether we enter the storm or not.

 

[Gene Moore]

I remember this discussion caused a flame war "back in the day" on WX-CHASE. Interesting to see it's discussed calmly now and most chasers are willing to do it without fear.....protected by radar no doubt. During the last discussion years ago most chasers were against it and thought it irresponsible, times do change. At the time I was one of the only ones saying it was acceptable, provided there was some visibility. I still subscribe to that today. Blindly N-S punching a known tornadic supercell is done quite often but it is a risk, no two ways about it.

Quick story, we had driven all the way from NW Kansas to north Texas to chase a spring set up in the early 90's. On this particular day we came upon two situations where core punching would have delivered us "into" the tornado. The first one was about midway down the Indian Nation's Turnpike in SE Oklahoma. There was a known large tornado in progress so I slowed and skirted the back edge of the cell. As we broke out of the south edge of the precip cars and trucks were scattered across the highway and median in front of us. A huge sunlit white path was cut through the pine forest (denuded trees to the white bark) and asphalt ripped out of the roadway leaving swirl marks. Unfortunately we could not see the funnel to our east, no doubt rain wrapped. With no quick route east we proceeded south to our secondary target just across the Red. During that time we drove through what seemed to be endless 60 dBz cores, very tiring. Finally we broke out into sunshine TCU and new anvils. A new cell to the southwest caught my eye, we headed for it. My chase partner remarked there was a wall cloud looking structure to our south west, it didn't look threatening and was about 20 miles away....this was a developing LP supercell. We continued under the base and it cut loose on top of us with heavy rain followed by golfball hail. During this time we lost our visibility and sight of the lowering. As we neared the back of the cell a stand of trees was located just to our south west. Also, what appeared to be very low clouds on the back side of them. My chase partner said, is this dangerous and I replied "I doubt we'll drive 400 miles today directly into the path of a tornado." Duh, was that silly.....the hail got larger, the wind screamed out of the east and on the other side of the trees there was nothing but blackness, prompting a "wow is it getting dark" comment. That is, until the large limbs and other debris started flying and the truth became obvious. I saw a very large tree split and the limb, about 2 feet in diameter, "circle" around at the vehicle. About 20 feet before it hit the windshield it lifted straight up and out of sight. As we skirted the east side of the funnel power lines flashed green lighting up the swirling condensation on the ground. Needless to say we had driven right into the path of a newly formed tornado and it could have been ugly.

Soooo, core punch if you will, you takes your chances, but if you chase for a long time sooner or later I'll bet your luck will run out. Of the seven tornadoes I saw last spring not all of them were on Threatnet as a spinning donut. It's just simple statistics, try it enough times, get cocky and you might get a big surprise

.

Happy chasing,
Gene Moore

 

[Craig Maire II]

I core punch storms that have a low tornadic potential but have a high hail/wind potential. I am fascinated by large hail etc. and love to experience the power of storms. I always try and make sure though that I slow down and keep my lights on when core punching to make sure that I am doing eveything I can to avoid car accidents, flash flooding etc. Now if a storm is tornado warned, has produced tornados or extremely large hail etc. I will try my best to stay out of the core and enjoy the show from a safer and more photogenic position

 

[Jon Gacke]

Core Punch?

Yes - occasionally, though can't say I ever feel totally comfortable doing so.
As Verne Carlson mentioned - heading east from Denver and playing catch-up occurs too often for me as well and doesn't always afford choice options.

I usually only punch in daylight with at least some visibility. I've also stopped and turned around on occasion - no shame.
I've learned the hard way not to rely heavily on threat-net as it can go blank due to bad connectors, a dead laptop battery, slow update, or some other gremlin just about the time when you really wish you knew what was in the neighborhood. I'd rather rely on what (if any) instincts are on call and what my eyes are telling me.

 

[Danny Neal]

To make this as short and sweet as possible. On a day where tornadoes are imminent I will not core punch because who wants to drive headlong into a tornado. Not having a very reliable radar either isn't too helpful either.

With that being said the only time I will core punch is on a severe warned cell on a bust day when I have been chasing blue skies. Sure I could get burned but here in IL you normally get squalls and multicelled storms so I am not to worried. When I go back to the plains though, I am never core punching.

 

[Paul Austin]

I would say rarely. If it's necessary for some safety or escape route reason, definitely. Otherwise, I have to have a very good reason to put my vehicle, passengers, and clear vision is harm's way. I have done so on occasion, however. I would liken the decision to chasing at night--only with "night vision" (radar data).

 

[Dick McGowan]

I think sampling big hail is almost as good as seeing a tornado. My blazer is a piece, so we take it, and aren't hesistant to punch any cores. I've yet to see anything bigger than baseballs, and don't mind losing a windshield. The only time I won't punch a core, is at night. In the past, I've rarely had anything other than a map and a wx radio and no radar, gps, etc, so at night, it makes it that more difficult. I've been lucky, and have only a small baseball-sized crack on my windshield, which was from punching a core from the west to east, at dusk on June 30th 05. I couldn't ever get through it, due to very low visibility and there was even a tornado on the other side!

 

[Jason McIntosh]

I voted sometimes, but it is the main thing I try to avoid. Especially up here in WI where most if not all of the supercells are HP variety. It's just not a safe thing to do. Driving through blinding rain is bad enough. Think of how many semis you have to blow by and you cant see squat. I have a chase car now so hail doesn't matter to me unless it's gargantuan. Most the time you will have an idea of how big the hail is from storm reports. I guess at times I have had to drive into a storm to keep up with it, and sometimes you just get punched by the core. The initial set-up point is the key to not having to punch the core. Getting to the supercells before they become linear is also key. Once they are linear you can usually say bye bye too.

 

[John MacKay]

I said no, but I have entered 3, only 1 intentionally.

1st one was a volatile tornadic supercell day (May 8th, 2003) and we took off on I-70, knowing the circulation was at least 5 miles north. It was so volatile a little tail formed from that storm to 10 miles south of it as we were going east and it shot 70 mph at a right angle to the car. That was the scary one, since we knew we were on the south side of the storm, somehow.

2nd one was a line that developed ahead and north of the Mulvane tornado supercell. I was trying to get home from a wedding reception in Wichita to get a look at radar before going after the supercell to the SW. My car had a cracked sunroof, so once I started getting into the hail, I backed off and decided to go after the Mulvane supercell. I ended up seeing all of the same tornadoes that Jordan did, about five miles away from each one.

The 3rd one was a marginally severe hail day that ended up being the only time a tornado had occurred in January in KS (Scott Currens was the one on that one). I punched it out of boredom, just wanting to see something (I got pea-size hail, which was satisfying enough for the day).

I only go out with a weather radio and whatever radio station coverage I can find, so I don't chance going through large hail cores. Plus, I really can't handle it. My chasing attitude will still be the same as I have one car that will need to make it 10-12 hours on the drive back home, or I'll have a rental car.