List of topics to learn?

[Sam Kennedy]

I just thought I would create a handy thread and list the topics you should learn for storm chasing.

Feel free to add more, and say in which position it should be.

1) Basic weather: Clouds, Fronts, Low/High Pressure Systems etc..
2) Basic forecasting: (not sure what fits in this category!)
3) Storm Chasing Etiquette
4) Understanding Doppler Radar
5) Intermediate Weather: (not sure what fits in this category!)
6) Intermediate Forecasting: (CAPE, Lifted Index, Cap Strength etc..)

I haven't learned everything in these topics, I also haven't learned them in this order. But I thought it would be handy to keep a list, so If a complete newbie(like me) joins, they can see what they should learn.

So feel free to add more topics! Also say where in the list it should go.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

I would only add two more to this list.
I would also point out that they are both electives.
There may very well may be more than I have listed below...

1) Basic to intermediate photography. Taking photos for yourself to share with family, to document the event for an onlime web page/journal, or to use in reporting to the NWS (I do that), and even to possibly make money from an interested News Service. Don't hold out for the last one - but it is possible only if you get good enough or are the only one to scoop the event.

YouTube gets a lot of storm chasers giving free videos of chases and/or chasers use YouTube to play sampler collections for sale. Getting familiar with a still cameras or videocams can cost you some time, but consider it time well-spent. It pays many dividends; mostly personal. When I sent my bro (an attorney) pictures from Kansas last Spring - he just about flipped. He wanted to do it too - but present responsibilities to clients made that impossible.

The cost at first is relatively low for either a point and shoot camera or a used video camera. After that - the intermediate level - can get downright expensive and take a much greater learning curve. Even if you do it for yourself, I have found it a lot of good clean fun - so long as you keep the cost within reason. I do still shots at this point, and I have invested/spent more than two thousand dollars so far.

2) HAM radios are a preferred way of communicating to other storm chasers. You will need to study for the license and pass the exam to use these radios. There are a few web sites that can train you and help you take your test for a very reasonable fee. It's a very practical means to chase with other storm chasers. I don't have this need as of yet, as I report via cell phone by dialing 911, then the County Emergency Manager, and then I log on to the NWS computer system to fill out a brief. But I am a eSpotter AND a freelance chaser. Your needs may well be met with a HAM license and radio.

 

[Jason Boggs]

Vehicle Maintenance 101. Remember, this is your most important tool when you're in the field.

 

[david diehl]

A note in the vehicle maintenance field, learn how to patch tires, you never know when you will have a tire that needs a plug put in it in the field, and it is so much faster, and eaiser to patch than changing to a spair, all it takes is about ten minutes to patch a tire.

I also suggest learning route planning, you got to know the road network to get out if you get into a sticky situation.

 

[Andy Mayhew]

I also suggest learning route planning, you got to know the road network to get out if you get into a sticky situation.

Yes, I was going to add the ability to properly read and understand maps and relate them to the ground. Not something that always comes naturally.

 

[Shane Adams]

Everything mentioned here so far are great suggestions...but I don't see anyone listing "get out there and chase, and start to look at storms and their structures, behaviors, and tendencies." All the prep stuff is wonderful for passing the off-season months, but none of it matters if you don't get out there and start experiencing severe weather first-hand. It might be considered irresponsible to some, for a person like myself to publicly promote greenhorn chasing, but there's no other way to learn.

It's been taboo for years to assign newbies with questions a ton of "homework" which consists of the stock replies "attend a local spotter class" and "study up on basic meteorology", but these don't teach a person how to chase storms. Meteorology is a completely separate entity from physically chasing a storm. All the book knowledge you can soak up means nothing without real-world application. Learning to chase is completely different than learning to forecast. You can't do the former consistently, successfully without learning the latter. And the latter means nothing without the former. You have to start out clueless, and learn both as you go along.

I hate meteorology and numbers and formulas and all that crap, but I still learned some of it through chasing. After a while, even the most stubborn mind has no choice but to start asking questions about why this happens and why that happens. Some of the answers I learned through other chasers, forums, and books. Others I learned from seeing storms over and over and starting to put things together in my head. But the important thing is I learned from both sources. Chasing and forecasting are two separate things that require one another to be successful at either. You need to know how to predict (within reason) where storms might be to be able to see them, and you need to understand how storms work in the natural, real-time environment to be able to understand how to make a forecast. Staring at models means so much less when you've never stared at the sky.

You're clueless when you start, because you've never chased. We all were. Accepting that you're going to stumble a lot at first is the initial step to beginning a chase career. No one is great out of the box, even with the toys. But every time you chase, you're that much better. It's a beautiful process.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

There is one more - but very important - point that need to be learned and added to your master list. There isn't a storm chaser on this site that is not familiar with it - and if asked - can probably recite it when the paragraph is started.
LOL!

Dr. Charles 'Chuck' Doswell wrote a paper on what is considered 'chasing etiqutte' and basic chasing principles.
Call it a primer or introduction if you like.
I feel it is essential to learn it and be quite familair with it.
I did; it's pretty much common sense and is not at all difficult.
STORMTRACK members would appreciate that very much if you did - IMHO...

Here is that paper:
http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/Chasing2.html

 

[Shane Adams]

There is one more - but very important - point that need to be learned and added to your master list. There isn't a storm chaser on this site that is not familiar with it - and if asked - can probably recite it when the paragraph is started.
LOL!

Dr. Charles 'Chuck' Doswell wrote a paper on what is considered 'chasing etiqutte' and basic chasing principles.
Call it a primer or introduction if you like.
I feel it is essential to learn it and be quite familair with it.
I did; it's pretty much common sense and is not at all difficult.
STORMTRACK members would appreciate that very much if you did - IMHO...

Here is that paper:
http://www.cimms.ou.edu/~doswell/Chasing2.html

I've actually never read through that. When I was a rook, most established chasers considered me a joke and I wasn't about to take "advice" from any of them. Now that I've grown up a little bit, I'm as stubborn as I always was about leaning too much on the opinions/influence of others. I've always been a responsible driver, and when I started chasing, that never changed.

It's probably a good idea for most newbies to read that, I just always have to do things my own way.

 

[Angie Norris]

One of the most basic parts of chasing is the forecasting, and the best way IMO is doing old fashioned, old school hand analysis. It's the best way of getting the feel of what the weather is going to be doing for the day. Once you've analysed the surface chart and at least the 500mb chart you know where your boundaries are and the general direction things will be moving. The models are a good help as far as giving you a heads up that good things may happen, but taking your erasable colored pencils and finding the boundaries and other surface features can definitely help get you to the right place.

 

[Damon Poole]

I recommend at least the Basic and Advanced SKYWARN! courses, then add what everybody else has said. It all adds to the experience.

 

[Matt Grans]

Thanks Shane for the kind words for us new to chasing. Thank you to the rest of you as well. I am just beginning to read up and prepare for next season and all of this is helpful advice. Having lived in Oklahoma for two years (many years ago) there is a lot to be said for having a second sense about what is developing, but being armed with more information is never a bad deal.

I like Rob Wadsworth's opinion on HAM Radio use. Is it still the thing to have in this day of cell phones and technology? I was considering taking some courses and buying one, just to be that more valuable to any chaser that I should hook up with... or would it be more valuable to go with something more technology savvy to track storms with? My aim is to be of the most service with any chaser I team up with when I get out to the central plains this upcoming spring.

Thanks!