I need some information

[Francis]

Hello,

I am planning a road trip to the US great plains this year and I was wondering 2 things:

- When would you recommend me going? (dates)
- If I plan to go for 2 weeks, how many severe and/or tornado do you expect me to see?

Note that this is my first time chasing tornadoes but not severe weather. Also, I have only chase once in the Oklahoma for like one day. Although I have a pretty good intuition and orientation, I am an amateur and I was wondering if anyone could inform me on those two things.

Thanks.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Hi, Francis. Welcome to Stormtrack.

- When would you recommend me going? (dates)

The climatological peak of tornado season in the Great Plains is the end of May into early June. Pick somewhere between the start of May and the first half June. It's always going to be a big gamble if you have to book time in advance so plan other side excursions in case your two weeks cap bust under a ridge.

- If I plan to go for 2 weeks, how many severe and/or tornado do you expect me to see?

Anywhere between zero and lots. If you haven't chased tornadoes before and you're going out for your first time by yourself, consider yourself extremely fortunate if you see just one. For the best chances at catching something, I recommend beginners book a two week tour with a reputable company like Cloud 9, Silver Lining, Tempest, or College of Dupage (in no particular order). They can put you in front of a tornado if there is one to be had.

 

[STexan]

The outbreaks typically begin in the Southeast around mid March to April and then move towards the TX/LA/OK (and perhaps KY/IN/IL) area in April, then on into the plains Late April on into perhaps June, and then of course moving closer to the Canadian border late spring/early summer. Yes, it's purely a crap-shoot, but I'd say any few weeks inside of May should be "as good as any" for the N TX to KS to NE plains area.

Many of the moderate and high risk day-events are forecasted 4 and 5 days out on the SPC website. They often get downgraded but if you can be somewhat spontaneous, that would help you depart with a good target, then typically the next batch of storms will move in within the subsequent week.

 

[Francis]

Ok thanks, what about a weather radio for my car? I was thinking of buying this one:

http://www.amazon.com/La-Crosse-Technology-810-106-recharging/dp/B00772EAT6

What do you suggest?

 

[STexan]

I recommend ..
Amazon Weather Radio
This will run up to a few days in standby/monitor mode on a set of batteries and can be set up on a dash for improved reception. The best thing about this radio is it's "travel mode" which is invaluable as you're constantly moving in and out of different noaa radio tower ranges as you travel. This searches every few minutes for the strongest signal and locks into that and if no signal is available, will continue to search. Plus it's easily affordable and very durable. Plus, it's sold directly by Amazon for improved service.

Edit: Plus you can stuff this one in a pocket if you need to be away from the vehicle for a bit. I find them very handy in the beginning stages of a storm event to let you know things are progressing and where you may need to begin focussing your attention and where in particular nearby, something may be going on.

 

[Francis]

Yes but the radio you've recommended doesn't have the NOAA icon on it, which means that severe weather alerts will not be issued directly from NOAA right?

 

[Francis]

Oh never mind lol. Reading the review of it, it sounds more appealing. So the one I'd like to buy, I have to punch in manually the frequencies while the one you recommend, when you switch it to travel-mode, it scans and connects to the nearest one right?

 

[STexan]

It works great. Mine is a somewhat different version (radio shack) but turn it "on" then silence the unit, then any warnings and watch issues that it "hears" will activate an audible "alarm", then you can press a button to listen to the details, or ignore. Of course you can listen to the continuous weather talk. Mine is very simple. Once you set it in travel mode and get the alarms the way you want them, you can forget about it and travel in/out of various tower ranges and always receive warnings from the nearest (strongest) broadcast. You can turn it off to conserve battery, and turn it on and it will resume normal travel seek/monitor behavior you set before.

It will always monitor the strongest signal, however, this in some cases may not cover the region you're working (when you're near a NOAA "regional border" and receiving a stronger signal from a tower that covers the next region over) but this is rarely an issue in the plains, but more so like along the TX/LA border and other such small regional areas where you can receive a pretty decent signal from multiple towers (regions). But if this is the case, you can put it in "home" mode and manually select the tower (frequency) you want.

 

[Francis]

Thanks man, much appreciated.

 

[Frank Kienast]

How are you planning to get real-time data while chasing? Probably the least expensive setup is to get an application like RadarScope (I'm not affiliated with them except as a user of the ap) for your cell phone. But cell data coverage can be sparse in that area of the country.

 

[Francis]

I was thinking of buying a device that allows me to have internet access on the go from my laptop, but I haven't checked it out yet.

 

[STexan]

Do you have a "smartphone"? Hopefully you do that is capable of "internet sharing" or whatever it's called on your phone so you can avoid making any significant purchases for the trip.

People used to chase without cellular data in the field. At least you could piggyback off of whatever wifi you can find in various towns as the day progresses but it will seriously impede your abilities. I guess it just depends on how much you want to "invest" in this chase road trip. But you can also "follow the herd" if it's a big day on a weekend

 

[Francis]

Yeah, well they sell pay-per-week USB internet device that allows me to have internet access anywhere, I'm probably going to go for that. Besides, I intend to make a career as a storm chaser and I live in the Canadian prairies so any gadgets I invest right now will be of further use. I have practice chasing while watching the radar and estimating where to go and then once I left home I relied only on my intuition, so I developed a good sense of intuition while on the field to allow me to be at the right spot, that will help on the field. I just can't wait to get there lol!

 

[Stephen Levine]

I have been using the Garmin Marine setup for a few years. It's great because it does not rely on cell signal for radar data. In addition to radar, you get surface winds and lightning data as well as storm cell ID and motion.
My friend Evan Anderson first introduced me to it several years ago. He had gone with a storm tour and brought his Garmin. They crossed the River Grande into Mexico after a supercell and everyone lost data except Evan. This unit is a dream come true, though it can be dicey - I had to replace the antenna for $150 after just two years of sporadic use and just got the box part replaced for another $150 this year.
I love the lightning data because I'm a lightning photographer, and this unit has brought me to several fertile supercells including a magnificent photogenic tornado.

 

[STexan]

If I was considering doing storm chasing seriously and/or for a living, I'd be looking hard at this
XM Mobile Threat Net

Software by WXWorx
Although I've not had any experience with it, it seems like a nice option to not have to rely on cellular data in some distant corn patch or remote area of SE Colorado. And it seems the data provided is fairly extensive.