Hey Jake,
Welcome aboard first and foremost. Here you will a PLETHORA of knowledge from meteorologists, NWS/SPC employees, veteran and new chasers, and can find just about anything you need or want to know.
Secondly, you seem to have the right attitude. It makes my job/responsibility if you will, a lot easier dealing with someone who WANTS to learn, not someone who comes in here thinking they know everything. I am always willing to correspond with someone who is receptive to what myself or anyone for that matter is trying to get across. I am not saying I have all the answers but I have been doing it long enough to feel confident that I have some LOL. With all that being said, my email and PM box is ALWAYS open to any thing you might not want to ask publicly for whatever reason.
If meteorology is your goal, I would recommend you dedicate your first few years studying both in school and in the "lab" (Out in the field). Sounds like you haven't seen many storms being from Georgia, don't worry the Great Plains will supply all that you need. School is number one, try to get into a college out in the Plains. Even if it is a junior college.
Since this is the first time you are chasing out in the Plains, I believe you should go with someone a bit more experienced as sort of a tutor. There are plenty of chasers in your area that I am pretty sure would GLADLY give you a first hand tour of Nature's beauty. Chasing in KS and OK plains will almost seem easy from a navigational standpoint after the struggle of traversing the Georgian hills/valleys/mountains. Again my PM box is always open for helpful hints or strategies that I will gladly pass along as I have learned them from some of the good chasers out there.
If you go out alone, I would strongly recommend being a spectator. What I mean is keep your distance from the business end of the storm. Try not to fall under a 3-5 mile range from the wall cloud. Sounds like you have some experience though so I am not too concerned about you not knowing about rain wrapped tornadoes, occlusions, mesocyclone handoffs etc...
What I would take if I were you....
* Hand held NWR - NOAA Weather Radio - You may not have radar or a scanner to see and/or listen to what others are so at the very least the NWR (if in range) will give you a rough idea of what is going on.
*A bunch of AA batteries - for your radio if you plan on using it a lot. If you have a scanner wired into your car already, all you have to do is program your frequencies in.
* If you don't already have a GPS, get one, but don't rely on it. Our 6/7 chase this year ended up with us almost driving into a river because the GPS showed a road that definitely wasn't there.
* Road atlas - Can't go wrong with a paper map!
* A list of contact numbers - whether it be of other chasers, the National Weather Service, etc. Report only what you see if you so choose to do that.
* Make sure you have a spare tire - I would ditch the fridge and go with the cooler. Make sure you have your roadside kit ready. (Jack, tools, etc)
* A cell phone to call for help, a report, anything.
* If you are going to use a laptop and want to run radar I would recommend using GR3 or StormLab. I assume you know how to read the radar so it should be pretty easy to customize to your likings.
* Make sure you bring enough money! Nothing will piss you off more than sitting in the middle of a desolate highway in the middle of the Kansas Prairies with an empty tank, no cell connection, and no money to fill up your tank!
I believe those are the basic things you need to take on your first storm chase to the Plains. Again I STRONGLY advocate trying to make more connections and perhaps team up with a veteran for a couple of days. I will be out there next Spring, I don't know when yet, but if you run into me at a gas station or throw me a PM you are more than welcome to tag along. If being independent is your thing, then more power to you, I wish you the best of luck. It is coming into the dreaded winter months, use this time to cram knowledge! I would insist you spend a penny or two and buy a couple DVD's from Shane Adams, Scott Weberpal, Andrew Pritchard, Mike Hollingshead, and Dustin Wilcox if for nothing else to see what Plains chasing is all about and to get a picture in your head of storm structure. Shane's "LOVE" DVD is one of my favorites and really shows you the awesome-ness of Mother Nature.
My storm season has ended up here in Chicago, but I know you boys in Georgia have your hands full with late night tornadoes in the winter so with that....STAY SAFE buddy! See you out there!
