Lots of action = Far from me ;-(

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I am really getting frustrated since I see these setups, I cannot chase them, but still "practice forcast" for an area (even post on NOW threads) and low and behold, I see tons and tons of pictures of "hoses" and "wedges" the next day in the REPORTS section within a 5 mile radius of MY area ;-(

The good thing is at least I can begin chasing these setups starting in May. I hope the "collura bubble" does not push all the weather around me and I am in the "hole of the doughnut" when I finally get out there and chase.

 

[Angie Norris]

Chris, I know where you're coming from...what's worse is living here, making your forecast, watching it verify but can't go after the storms because of "prior commitments"...ie, the job from..., well, you get the point.
Two weeks, if I can hold on two more weeks.....

 

[Mike Umscheid]

Don't worry Chris, I live on the High Plains, and while this season has been incredible so far along and west of 100W, I haven't seen one tornado. I have not been able to chase any of the big tornado days yet in 2007 due to work or other commitments: 2/23, 3/28, 4/21, 4/23, and 4/24. This year I have been very unlucky with the timing of these big days and my rotating shift schedule. I recognize that years will be like this given my job (it's first priority for me), but I am not too dissapointed... I figure I don't chase for tornadoes like the large majority of the chasers on this board, but am really interested in more fine-art images of high plains stormscapes. 4/20 offered that for me in the Texas Panhandle, and I am at least fortunate for that so far. There will be more chase opportunities, more storms -- and more importantly for me... I live out here, so at least if I don't chase these events, I'm probably working them (SW KS), which I honestly love to death, too. I used to be really, really ticked off when I missed one big tornado event... so far I've missed 5 with my "tornado count" at a big fat goose-egg... but I'm really not all that dissapointed.

 

[Melissa Moon]

Oh my gosh...I feel your pain. This is my first spring not living in the plains (but still in the US) and it has been killing me knowing that I would have gone out many of these days so far had I still been in Fort Worth or Norman.

 

[Scott Taylor]

well, if you folks could scoot up to the Dakotas real quickly, you are bound to see a tornado. A serious outbreak looks to be underway, lol. I had to save this spc graphic from just a moment ago... look at the tor warnings!!

 

[Melissa Moon]

Ooh look! Another watch and a whole bunch more warnings just got issued! The Blue Ridge Mountains are going crazy!!!

 

[rdale]

A little surprised that SPC's plot doesn't filter out the very obvious T (test) in the VTEC code.

 

[afischer]

Welcome to the club, Chris! 3-28: working... 4-21: working... 4-23: working... etc... etc...

 

[Joshua Jones]

Well I am kind of lucky, I got to go chasing yesterday. Wasn't quite as active as I had hoped but that is ok.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

I'm patiently wating for summer. Then we can kick off the Northern Plains season (knock on wood!). I have full intentions of chasing any reasonable setup within ~6hr. This includes all of ND, treeless parts of MN, most of SD, some of NE, and most importantly... Manitoba and Eastern Saskachewan. While I'm up here, by #1 goal is to catch an international tornado =)

While it's a bummer missing these setups, I'll take some solice in knowing crowds are less of a problem up here... not that they bother me much. A sad bit of knowledge is I have yet to see a TX panhandle tornado. You can thank a combination of bad forecasts, bad luck, and prior commitments for that.

 

[Kenny Drake]

While I'm up here, by #1 goal is to catch an international tornado =)

I always wanted to be going through a border crossing with a large wedge on the ground nearby. That would pass paying the toll on the I-44 turnpike during the May 3rd event I think. As for chasing in Minnesota, a good rule of thumb is along or south of I-94 and west of I-35. There may be some parts along the MN/ND border north of I-94 that are not bad either.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

From my experience, the treeline farther north starts about 1 hour or so east of the ND/MN border. Once you get out of the Red River Valley, chaseable terrain becomes a rarity. Too many lakes and trees.