How many tornadoes did you get this year so far?

[Darren Addy]

While Kenneth may never have a great career in the diplomatic corps, he makes a good point that (no doubt) many are thinking. Reviewing video doesn't tell you how many tornadoes you saw. It tells you how many tornadoes you didn't notice at the time. (Not the same thing AT ALL).

I try to refrain from imputing motives of others as much as I can, but it is true that this sort of question is (by its very nature) is not designed to simply gather data. If it was, a POLL would have been a better way to go so people could answer anonymously. Instead, it's like some adolescent boy's game of drop-your-pants-and-compare. Mainly, it's going to be played by those who feel pretty good about themselves. (I'll never have a career in the diplomatic corps, either, huh? ) Kenneth may not feel jealousy or disappointment, but the question is sure to incite feelings of inadequacy, discontent, frustration, or jealousy in SOME.

If Kenneth's sentiment is that keeping score takes some of the joy out of things, I have to agree. I tend to believe (like fishermen or golfers) that "A bad day storm chasing is better than the best day at work". A psychologist would probably have a field day with those that have to know where they stand in comparison with others in order to be happy.

I prefer to see a glass half-full. The two tornadoes I've seen this year almost double the number that I've seen in the previous 45 spring/summers of my life and I'm happy about that. Frankly, I'd be just as happy to see a gorgeous tornado-less storm and also feel that, like life, the bulk of our happiness should come from the journey, not simply the destination.

Darren Addy
Kearney, NE

 

[bvassmer]

My tally this year sits @ 2 positive tornadoes on May 12th, and a bunch of funnels... Any other day, funnels are all that was seen.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Im just hoping and praying for ONE decent set up here in Illinois...or, I'm not going to be seeing squat until at least June after classes finish and I'm free to leave the state.

The dust storm on Friday was quite fun...and I did see quite a few gustnadoes...but, nothing beats the real thing!

 

[Susan Strom]

1 so far, little one.

 

[Gabe Garfield]

Currently sitting at three (or two, depending on what your perspective of the Paris tornado event is).

I am a storm chaser, but I sure would like to see a high-contrast tube again...storm structure really can't beat the thrill of seeing a nice tornado. Here's to a good end to May!

Gabe

 

[Shane Adams]

Originally posted by Darren Addy+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darren Addy)</div>

While Kenneth may never have a great career in the diplomatic corps, he makes a good point that (no doubt) many are thinking. Reviewing video doesn't tell you how many tornadoes you saw. It tells you how many tornadoes you didn't notice at the time. (Not the same thing AT ALL).[/b]

Actually it does. I saw (and mentioned) three different tornadoes on my May 12 video before the South Plains madness. Once that happened, the small tornadoes we'd seen earlier kinda got left in the memory dust. I'd remembered seeing at least one, so I counted as such. A few days later reviewing video, I saw (and heard myself seeing on video) three seperate tornadoes. After intense review to be certain (by my standards), I changed my count. (I count tornadoes because I'm out there to document them...the two go hand-in-hand).


<!--QuoteBegin-Darren Addy
I try to refrain from imputing motives of others as much as I can, but it is true that this sort of question is (by its very nature) is not designed to simply gather data. If it was, a POLL would have been a better way to go so people could answer anonymously. Instead, it's like some adolescent boy's game of drop-your-pants-and-compare. Mainly, it's going to be played by those who feel pretty good about themselves. (I'll never have a career in the diplomatic corps, either, huh? ) Kenneth may not feel jealousy or disappointment, but the question is sure to incite feelings of inadequacy, discontent, frustration, or jealousy in SOME.)

I've answered this question publicly (without the veil of anonymity) when I hadn't seen sh*t - so there goes the "feel good" theory. What's the big deal? If you don't want to answer, then don't answer. It was a simple question. How is this question any different than "how long have you been chasing" or "what is your favorite chase of all-time?"

Originally posted by Darren Addy
If Kenneth's sentiment is that keeping score takes some of the joy out of things, I have to agree. I tend to believe (like fishermen or golfers) that \"A bad day storm chasing is better than the best day at work\". A psychologist would probably have a field day with those that have to know where they stand in comparison with others in order to be happy.

You don't need a shrink for that - it's a condition known as "curiosity". Speaking of what a shrink would have a field day with, how about those who insist on making the "how many tornadoes?" question an issue? IMO it's the same thing as the "we have to hate Twister" mentality; any glimmer of concern over one's personal acheivements (or fondness for Twister) is feared by many to seem "petty" and unworthy of their peers' approval. In other words, it's kosher to pretend success doesn't matter to you. Funny how anyone can make fun of themselves about how bad their season has been and it's a great laugh...the same person makes mention of any success and all hell breaks loose.

I've been labeled "arrogant" for years now because I don't hide the fact that I'm proud of my accomplishments in chasing. I suppose my critics would rather I denounce publicly any and all passion for personal acheivement, and instead channel all my energy into eternal thanks to all the PhDs who's names we've all been drowned with for years, about how their writings and views have helped shape me into a nice, responsible chaser (right off the assembly line). We're held accountable for all our mistakes, being labeled 'yahoos'...but any and all success, well we've got the "names" to thank for that.

This is my most-loathed topic of all of the sad, pathetic topics we mull over every year to fight the boredom between tornado triumphs

[/i]

 

[nickgrillo]

Originally posted by Shane Adams
pathetic topics we mull over every year to fight the boredom between tornado triumphs

LOL, true! :lol:

Let's try not to get all into the politics about counting tornadoes, I made this thread just to see what everybody else got!

 

[Sheila_Ward]

As much as I like to pick on Nick , this appears to me to be a simple thread to see how everyone's been doing so far. I don't know why it has to be over analyzed.

As for me, only 1 so far this year I'm hoping for a active late season so I can finish up a big project at work and get the heck on the road.

 

[fplowman]

only 2 for the year

 

[Sarah Berling]

Saw a quasi-tornado in Northern Texas last week. So, a half? It touched the ground, stayed there for a very brief period of time, and high-tailed it back into the clouds. Though, it was HP, so if any others touched down, I didn't see 'em.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

There have been tornadoes this year? I plan to continue to set my alarm on all the wrong days. I've seen one funnel above a tree-line that was on the ground. I choose to take the route, if it isn't obviously a tornado, then I'm ok not "counting" it. There is nothing wrong with not knowing. That is the only thing that has ever bothered me about the whole tornado stats thing. You rarely see/hear of a column of 'not sures' or pseudo(almost) tornadoes(thingies). Some of the stuff I've seen counted this year I'd have certainly put in that third column. Everyone needs 3 columns! Just my thoughts.

 

[Justin Walker]

Well the actually number might vary just a bit but:

March 21: 2 (Paris, Tx)
May 11: 2 (Ulsysses, Ks & Great Bend, Ks: confirmed by DOW's)
May 12: 4-5 (South Plains, Tx: several spin-ups on ground but no conds. to the ground and of course, the big one, see avatar)

Been a slow year, but I feel I have been at the right place at the right time!!

 

[Mikey Gribble]

I am not doing so well. I saw two good tornadoes on April 21 in Neosho county. I almost feel bad counting the third one, which was a brief spin-up in Nebraska on May 11. I will call it 2.5 for now. The only major disappointment I had was May 12. I had finals that day so I couldn't get out chasing. It would have been really nice to see the tornadoes down in Texas. Hopefully the second half of the season will pick up.

 

[Shane Adams]

I am not doing so well. I saw two good tornadoes on April 21 in Neosho county. I almost feel bad counting the third one, which was a brief spin-up in Nebraska on May 11. I will call it 2.5 for now. The only major disappointment I had was May 12. I had finals that day so I couldn't get out chasing. It would have been really nice to see the tornadoes down in Texas. Hopefully the second half of the season will pick up.

Why do people wallow in guilt for counting weak tornadoes? People chase on weak supercell/multicell days all year, all across the country. If it's a weak or meager sup the person says "well at least it put on a good light show" as if to compensate a less-then-stellar sup. Why are less-than-stellar tornadoes automatically written off as crap?

Who sat down and decided tornadoes have to be world-class to even exist, let alone "count"?

IMO, the people who scrutinize tornado counts are far more concerned with counting than the ones who just count.

 

[Gabe Garfield]

Why do people wallow in guilt for counting weak tornadoes?

Good question. I think it is probably due to the fact that people are at times too eager to call anything that looks like a tornado, a tornado. I know I've done it a few times...however, now I like to make sure it is a tornado before I count it as one. I don't count "possible" tornadoes unless I can confirm them...thus, my career count of tornadoes may be less than the actual number of tornadoes I've seen.

However, if I saw a tornado and didn't count it as such, it makes it no less a tornado. It doesn't really matter to nature what we say...it either is one, or it isn't (a Boolean 1 or 0 situation--disregarding definitional issues).

Personally, I don't mind counting "dinkie" tornadoes (as my brother calls them)...I'll take them in whatever size/shape/color they come in.

Gabe