How chasing has changed

[Jay McCoy]

I dont know dan. I think in todays world of instant gratification and attention deficit many of the new generation would get bored or frustrated if they could only "score" a few tornados a year due to lack of data. And if you couldnt post your video on youtube that night for all to see it would be even worse...lol

being blind in the field does suck at times. I would have loved to have had radar back in the 80s and early 90's. many of those days with cloud cover where you couldnt see a storm going up 30-40 miles away costs me a number of good chances.

 

[Adam Lucio]

What i find funny about this whole topic is the comments about technology in the form of GPS and mobile radar and Iphones etc etc...

but nobody mentions the lack of advanced forecast data back then...its easy for people now to sit back and nit pick a setup to death with all the advanced forecast techniques there are and not chase because CAPE isnt where they want it or the latest NAM slowed the system down by an hour...

Imagine trying to forecast a target area, or even deciding its worth chasing based on what was available back then...

I also have to disagree with Dan, if chasing wasnt as east i suspect the numbers would be down as well. Im just glad Im one of the ones who will gamble with less than perfect setups, and that I dont need the possibility of a Quinter wedgefest to lure me out there along with my grandmas uncles little brothers 3rd cousin.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Again, I could be wrong - but I couldn't see someone staying home on a Quinter or 5/29/04 day because they didn't have a laptop. I think they'd still be out there trying on the bigger days. If you've got chasing in your blood, a great setup on a late May afternoon will get you out there regardless. If you don't have chasing in your blood, I wonder if that person would spend the money on cellular access, GRLevel3, ThreatNet, GPS, etc if they weren't really that committed to the hobby. I could see a wealthy person with money to burn being the tech-motivated chaser demographic, but how many of those are there? The only things that would keep me from chasing on a big day would be circumstances out of my control - if my car broke down, if I was totally broke, if I was sick or had a family emergency, etc. I'd never pass on a great setup just from lack of data. Maybe that's just me though - maybe I just don't have a grasp on the motivations of the new chaser generation. (Makes me feel old by saying that, ha).

 

[Mike Peregrine]

I feel like when someone is new to the hobby and to the internet community side of chasing, there is an added element to chasing that didn't exist several years ago. When many of us started, it really was just a matter of doing something we really loved doing and was exciting. The satisfaction and gratification didn't involve other people really. I wasn't nearly as efficient as a chaser back then and I've since figured out a lot of stuff that helps. I'll admit that when I started doing the internet thing, I wanted to be badass and get a picture up before other people could. Doing video was even worse, because I felt pressure to scoop as many as possible. Now it honestly doesn't make a difference whether I even post in the reports thread at all. I have a gazillion pictures from the last three years that no one has even ever seen and have never made it to my website. I go for months without even editing them. For me, the internet stuff has gone back to just being an interesting pastime. This year I won't be able to chase hardly at all due to being forced to be out of town on the east and west coasts for weeks at a time for work during the peak of storm season. I'm not all that worked up about it, though. I'll still be around next year and the storms will come back.

I've never been one that has to look back fondly on the good ol' days and wish things would be the same. Nothing in life works that way, so I don't expect that it would in this thing we do either. It is what it is. I'll just keep enjoying it for my own reasons.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

How does one not follow their "gut instinct"? Ain't the path you do follow a "gut instinct"? Always hated the ol "gut casting" stuff as an excuse or reason. It seems all it is is the "other option" that is essentially always present. "I went this way even though my gut said go that way"...eh? That's when it fails. Otherwise it is, "I bagged because I followed my gut even though I was pulled to also go the other way."

 

[afischer]

How does one not follow their "gut instinct"? Ain't the path you do follow a "gut instinct"? Always hated the ol "gut casting" stuff as an excuse or reason. It seems all it is is the "other option" that is essentially always present. "I went this way even though my gut said go that way"...eh? That's when it fails. Otherwise it is, "I bagged because I followed my gut even though I was pulled to also go the other way."

I certainly agree with this. Over the years I've heard two "rules" crop up that chasers will sometimes talk about after an unsuccessful chase... in fact, I used to be a fan of them myself years ago, especially after really crappy chases. Those would be: 1) Always stick with your original target or original instincts! 2) Never leave your target storm until it is dead or dying! Obviously, these sound like good rules of thumb when you've wrongly changed a forecast strategy, or abandoned a particular storm that then proceeds to drop 17 tornadoes.

There are generally not many hard and fast rules on strategies of forecasting/chasing, at least not that I am aware of. Sometimes we update our forecast thinking based on new information throughout the day, and it can either pay off or result in a big miss. On the other hand, sometimes one can stick doggedly with our initial forecast thinking, and it can likewise either pay off or not pay off so well. Same goes with strategies on which particular storm to pursue. Still other times, the hardest decision is whether to even leave the house to go chase... and you feel pretty smart all day, until 6-7 o'clock magic hits and the tornado LSRs start flying in.

What's funny is, one would think that decisions like this would get easier once one has acquired more experience and expertise with chasing. In my experiences, sometimes they do, but may times they do not. I think mother nature will have the upper hand for many, many years.

From 2002-2004 I had no laptop, internet access, or radar data while chasing. It certainly made things tougher, especially since I didn't have consistent access to a reliable nowcaster. Having a laptop now with wifi access, which allows me to look at afternoon observational/diagnostic data while already in the field near the general target area, is a big benefit.

 

[Shane Adams]

How does one not follow their "gut instinct"? Ain't the path you do follow a "gut instinct"? Always hated the ol "gut casting" stuff as an excuse or reason. It seems all it is is the "other option" that is essentially always present. "I went this way even though my gut said go that way"...eh? That's when it fails. Otherwise it is, "I bagged because I followed my gut even though I was pulled to also go the other way."

I believe this is called "luck". Monday I went completely against my original plan and raced north when I was originally gonna stay further south. I've been burned by doing the same thing in the past, but Monday it paid off. Getting to the storm takes a bit of skill, and staying out of the tornadoes takes a little more. But having your storm produce a tornado...that's just luck every time.

 

[Connor McCrorey]

I still plot my own maps every AM with colored pencils. They are quite simple, but are as accurate as they used to be, even with all the new data sources. The basics still apply, like the dryline, surface wind directions, boundaries, surface lows, surface temps., etc. By personally plotting this data every hour, I begin to see a 3D picture in my mind of what I think will happen.

What surface maps do you usually use when doing analysis the morning of a chase? I know of many places online to get surface data, but if there is a "best" place to print off the maps it would help a lot!

 

[afischer]

What surface maps do you usually use when doing analysis the morning of a chase? I know of many places online to get surface data, but if there is a "best" place to print off the maps it would help a lot!

For upper air, I really like SPC's unanalyzed RAOBs at the mandatory levels (11x17" plots). The NPN wind profiler data is included at each level, which adds more detail in the Plains. I think VWP data may be plotted too when available. http://www.spc.ncep.noaa.gov/obswx/maps/

For the surface data here are my favs, just click on the region you want:
ucar - http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/surface/
Al Pietrycha - http://www.stormeyes.org/pietrycha/ks.html#sfc

 

[Melissa Jablonski]

Would I give away my age if I said my first storm chase was with an ex boyfriend who was a grad student in the late 70s early eighties. We chased in a van with a C. B radio a hand held anemometer and the weather station off the living room wall. The local police thought we were hippies. Wouldn" have missed it for the world.
Melissa