Jacob Ferden
EF4
May 3, 1999 for obvious reasons
June 16, 1992 - Chandler, Minnesota F5 tornado
1995 Friona/Dimmitt event
June 16, 1992 - Chandler, Minnesota F5 tornado
1995 Friona/Dimmitt event
Individual tornado and day you wish you could have chased
- Thread starter Chris Hayes
- Start date
Dave Kaplow
EF4
May 10, 1991 - Lazbuddie, Texas tornado carousel. Maybe not an obvious choice, but think about it... A big dusty slow moving tornado, with full-fledged satellite rope tornadoes constantly forming and dissipating all around it, the whole thing rotating at a stately pace, everything perfectly visible... Keep your boring old wedges, this is the kind of stuff I like to see! Well OK, I want the wedges too, but really I'm hard pressed to think of a more interesting and visually awesome scenario than this one. And I get the impression that there was quite a bit more to this event then what you see in the well-known video. My kind of storm, for sure.
June 23, 1998 - Columbus, NE tornado. I've never had a chance to see the famous "Crazy Farmer" video in its entirety, but what I have seen leaves no doubt this one is right up there in it's awesomeness factor, even if it is just a single tornado. Big drool factor, for sure.
May 3, 1999 OK - How can you not have this day on your list? But for me it's not necessarily just the Moore storm, I think the number and variety of tornadoes produced by Cell B almost beats the big F5, barely. And the only other chase day that could even come close in terms of multiple photogenic tubes is...
June 24, 2004 SD tornadofest. The incredible life-cycle of the Manchester tornado, plus many other tubes in rapid succession... Unbelievable. This and the May 3 OK outbreak were probably the two best days ever for multiple powerful chaseable tubes.
June 23, 1998 - Columbus, NE tornado. I've never had a chance to see the famous "Crazy Farmer" video in its entirety, but what I have seen leaves no doubt this one is right up there in it's awesomeness factor, even if it is just a single tornado. Big drool factor, for sure.
May 3, 1999 OK - How can you not have this day on your list? But for me it's not necessarily just the Moore storm, I think the number and variety of tornadoes produced by Cell B almost beats the big F5, barely. And the only other chase day that could even come close in terms of multiple photogenic tubes is...
June 24, 2004 SD tornadofest. The incredible life-cycle of the Manchester tornado, plus many other tubes in rapid succession... Unbelievable. This and the May 3 OK outbreak were probably the two best days ever for multiple powerful chaseable tubes.
Jeff House
Supporter
the Chase that Almost Was
May 4, 2003 comes to mind. Thought I was free to chase. I was a meteorologist in Wichita, not scheduled to for regular duty that day.
It was an obvious outbreak day. Only issue was where along the dryline to chase. Joked about chasing northeast KS from my Wichita location, and playing in KC that night. Upon a serious look at the upper air charts, I favored southeast KS and a simple return to Wichita that night. Looked like the best turning with height and speed shear was in southeast KS. We know Girard happened that day. KC got it too, so both picks verified.
Gathered up my gear and called Andrew, another met and coworker, who I was hoping to chase with. He was very ready to go but seemed confused about why I was planning to go. I said, “I am off. What is the problem?†Andrew asked if I had checked the on-call schedule. I replied that I was not on call. Upon double checking, the most deflating feeling came over me. A freight train smashed into my stomach because I was indeed on call. Poof! No chase after all that morning excitement.
I have missed other good days, but knew I would miss them for work. Missing May 4, 2003 was particularly crushing because I woke up thinking I was going. My bad.
May 4, 2003 comes to mind. Thought I was free to chase. I was a meteorologist in Wichita, not scheduled to for regular duty that day.
It was an obvious outbreak day. Only issue was where along the dryline to chase. Joked about chasing northeast KS from my Wichita location, and playing in KC that night. Upon a serious look at the upper air charts, I favored southeast KS and a simple return to Wichita that night. Looked like the best turning with height and speed shear was in southeast KS. We know Girard happened that day. KC got it too, so both picks verified.
Gathered up my gear and called Andrew, another met and coworker, who I was hoping to chase with. He was very ready to go but seemed confused about why I was planning to go. I said, “I am off. What is the problem?†Andrew asked if I had checked the on-call schedule. I replied that I was not on call. Upon double checking, the most deflating feeling came over me. A freight train smashed into my stomach because I was indeed on call. Poof! No chase after all that morning excitement.
I have missed other good days, but knew I would miss them for work. Missing May 4, 2003 was particularly crushing because I woke up thinking I was going. My bad.
Melissa Jablonski
To Dave Kaplow ,I was on that South Dakota tornado fest June 24th ,2004. We punched the core of a supercell in the badlands and caught the Woonsocket and Manchester tornadoes what an awesime day.
Melissa
Melissa
GlennMartin
EF0
May 31,1985 It would have been my first chase but I was seriously contemplating it. I could have caught the dryline (yes dryline in eastern Ohio!) in 4hrs from where I was living at the time. What a memorable first chase that would have been. My first chase would have to wait till the following year driving into a pulse storm with pea sized hail 
Shane Adams
June 13, 1998 OKC metro tornado outbreak....the one that got away.
Tony Laubach
EF5
Speaking in terms of a time period when I was chasing, I would have to go with the October 13, 1999 F-3 tornado that hit my hometown neighborhood in Circleville, Ohio. I would've planted myself on my front porch and watched the F-3 hit the street across from mine.
Secondly, I would like to have June 24, 2003 back... I went to Nebraska on a time leash, but figuring I would've easily made the South Dakota insanity and would've been back in time.
Secondly, I would like to have June 24, 2003 back... I went to Nebraska on a time leash, but figuring I would've easily made the South Dakota insanity and would've been back in time.
Brian Stertz
EF5
Mine would have to be the Andover KS F5 and the Manchester SD F4. Had to work on 4/26/91 and was living in STL at the time. The Manchester event I was in Tulsa and out of vacation days.
John Farley
Supporter
5/10/2003, Illinois. See:
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?p=226432#post226432
That was SIUE's graduation day and I was department chair. I had committed to go to graduation as had several of our new faculty, and I figured I would be setting a terrible example if I skipped out to chase - so I was there instead of on the tornadic storms in west-central IL. I did chase locally that morning and managed to get hailed on but missed the funnel cloud that formed right over Edwardsville around 10 in the morning. Then off to graduation.
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?p=226432#post226432
That was SIUE's graduation day and I was department chair. I had committed to go to graduation as had several of our new faculty, and I figured I would be setting a terrible example if I skipped out to chase - so I was there instead of on the tornadic storms in west-central IL. I did chase locally that morning and managed to get hailed on but missed the funnel cloud that formed right over Edwardsville around 10 in the morning. Then off to graduation.
Andrew Stoller
EF5
Since it was a local event, and at that time I was a delivery driver and could see the convective explosion all day, I'd have to say May 10, 2004 west of Limon, CO. Was even worse to know I probably could have chased it near or after dark as I got off work in time.
Connor McCrorey
EF3
3/28/07 was the first outbreak I really followed. I was 15 at the time, and I had always loved weather, but it wasn't until talking to a friend at OU who had chased TX that I realized I could chase. I would love to go back and chase that day.
Terry Kern
EF0
Would be May 3rd, was working in Indiana at the time. I was working with a group of guys who were from the OKC area and when I got word the OKC area had just gotten hit by a monster tornado, I yelled out to everybody about it. Then in unison, they all immediately dropped what they were doing and frantically grabbed their cell phones to call back home. It was kinda funny to witness that in an odd way.
Darrin Rasberry
Easy. Elie, Manitoba June 22, 2007. Best "lawnchair storm" I've seen on video - yes, even better than Mulvane IMO.
mikedeason
EF5
April 19, 1996: The I-72/74 Supercell during what was, at the time, the largest tornado outbreak in Illinois history.
It was my third year of chasing, but this particular day the supervisor of the FCWOS at Quincy had scheduled me to work 4PM-Midnight (the supervisor is actually typing this post.) I had been watching the surface low tracking through southern Iowa that afternoon with an extremely well defined attendent dry line. The area of concern would depend on the placement of the warm front that afternoon and by 3PM it had cleared the Quincy area. Wasn't long after a supercell almost literally exploded SW of the station. Unfortunately, I could not get anyone to work my shift and every time I had to type the comment "CB S MOVG E" (or later varients according to direction) on the the obs, the angrier I got.
Yeah, April 19, 1996 is a day I'm still bitter about.
It was my third year of chasing, but this particular day the supervisor of the FCWOS at Quincy had scheduled me to work 4PM-Midnight (the supervisor is actually typing this post.) I had been watching the surface low tracking through southern Iowa that afternoon with an extremely well defined attendent dry line. The area of concern would depend on the placement of the warm front that afternoon and by 3PM it had cleared the Quincy area. Wasn't long after a supercell almost literally exploded SW of the station. Unfortunately, I could not get anyone to work my shift and every time I had to type the comment "CB S MOVG E" (or later varients according to direction) on the the obs, the angrier I got.
Yeah, April 19, 1996 is a day I'm still bitter about.
Rob Satkus
EF2
June 8, 1974 Ok outbreak for me...I lived in Tulsa and had close calls that day ( I actually saw my first tornado from the front window) but would love to be able to go back and chase it. ( I was only 9 at the time.)
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