My sad attempt at chasing today (first chase)

[Carol Sidofsky]

Thanks for all your great info, that I'm glad to learn, thanks to Allan's questions and thoughts!

One interesting thing I saw on TV last night, is that Dr. Greg Forbes (who worked with Fujita, and then worked/works with The Weather Channel/TWC) was actually STORM CHASING on that very Ft. Morgan (starting southwest of Boulder) storm!

By phone, Dr. Forbes told the meteorologist on TWC, that he saw at least one multi-vortex "gustnado" type of "tornado" in that storm, related to a gust front!

First, I was happy to hear that he was storm chasing! Second, I was interested in his defining gustnados as a type of tornado, since I think that's controversial among some meteorologists. He did say gustnadoes were similar to dust devils.

He's supposedly chasing in Nebraska today.

Carol Sidofsky
970-531-5000
[email protected]

 

[Bryan Stokes]

Hey, you said to set up east of oncoming storms. But, to avoid getting run over by the core, do you think that I should have tried to go a bit south of where the storm seem to be headed for?

That is correct. Once storms fire and you are actually intercepting a storm, you usually want to be on the SE edge of the storm, that is, as long as it's a traditional E or NE-moving storm. There are exceptions to this rule, but generally-speaking, this is where you usually want to be.

As for being East, I was just referring to being slightly East of where you think storms will fire. It is (and as you know) far easier to then move into proper position.

My husband Dave (speaking to me by cell phone) thought that part of that storm seemed to be a "right turner" for a while, heading due east, and even slightly southeast, while the rest of the several-part storm was heading east/northeast.

That's great that your husband has taken an interest in chasing too. My wife really enjoys chasing and she tries to get involved as much as she can, although her work schedule isn't as flexible as mine. This is our third season studying and chasing severe weather and it is a lot of fun going traveling this long journey together.

It also sounds like you and your husband are being very cautious about not over-extending yourselves and it sounds like you are going about things the right way. Granted, my 3-yrs of chasing do not make me an expert by any means, but in my opinion, too many folks get into chasing and go crazy with all of the techno-gadgets their first year and I think they end up on the wrong bus. It is far better to keep your eyes on the sky and your mind engaged on what it is your actually seeing, versus being buried in a radar screen and not knowing what it is you're looking at. Once you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals, then all of the techno-gadgets become very useful tools that will certainly help your chasing.

Of course, you and Dave already know this, and that's a good thing.

Bryan

 

[Carol Sidofsky]

Thank you, Bryan!

We go to the NWS spotter training classes, in early spring, run by Bob Glancy & Scott Entrekin, and I like to go several times, hoping more info will sink in each time!

I had beginner's luck, about 10 years ago. Saw 2 tornadoes (1 in Denver, & 1 in Aurora) at the same time! Haven't seen another tornado, since then. I just happened to be in the right place, at the right time, with no knowledge. Got down to Denver at about 3:30 pm, at Speer & 1st Ave, heard the sirens, and kept looking up, until I saw a little white triangle coming out of collar (concentric donut shaped) clouds, in a gray fuzzy sky that I never would've suspected could produce a tornado--wow was I wrong!.). That white funnel elongated, looking like a death angel mushroom (elephant trunk), and moved down Broadway. Second tornado was black & ropy (had picked up debris), out east in Aurora, at the northern edge of part of the storm.

Dave would like to go chasing more often, but usually has to work.

It's great to be able to ask questions here, and I appreciate your and others' very helpful information/answers.

By the way, when I was in Denver earlier (Tuesday), I saw a magnificent white storm way out in the distance to the northeast. I thought it was in Wyoming, but then found out it was in Nebraska! Here's a wild guess--60,000 feet high. I wonder how high that huge storm actually was! It was awesome looking! I wonder if Dr. Forbes was chasing that one!

Carol Sidofsky
970-531-5000
[email protected]

 

[NickSeyour]

Some of my first chases envolved me chasing alto clouds lol. Stay strong dude some day you'll capture something amazing.

 

[Allan Jeffers]

Looks like the season has pretty much wrapped up here in Denver (was there much of a seaon here in Denver as it was?)

 

[Darrin Rasberry]

Looks like the season has pretty much wrapped up here in Denver (was there much of a seaon here in Denver as it was?)

Colorado had a huge season; IMO the storm of the year was in the southern part of that state on 5/31. Check the related REPORT threads for exhibit A. Some of the best storms are in your state. The rockies are like a free front.

One thing I don't think I've seen yet: find an experienced partner to chase with for a while. Not only will you get to split costs and learn a LOT of stuff that would take you longer to learn on your own, but, most importantly, you'll learn what to do in dangerous situations. I can only imagine what would have happened to me on my "first chase," when I got under a wall cloud that had just produced a tornado a mile away from where I caught it near the Ames airport. If that had something down still, I may not be here today because of such stupidity!

Chasing with a partner will ingrain safety techniques that you would never be able to learn in preparation. Chasing with an experienced partner is the best decision I made as a noob (which I still kinda am). Be safe; do it.

 

[Allan Jeffers]

Colorado had a huge season; IMO the storm of the year was in the southern part of that state on 5/31. Check the related REPORT threads for exhibit A. Some of the best storms are in your state. The rockies are like a free front.

One thing I don't think I've seen yet: find an experienced partner to chase with for a while. Not only will you get to split costs and learn a LOT of stuff that would take you longer to learn on your own, but, most importantly, you'll learn what to do in dangerous situations. I can only imagine what would have happened to me on my "first chase," when I got under a wall cloud that had just produced a tornado a mile away from where I caught it near the Ames airport. If that had something down still, I may not be here today because of such stupidity!

Chasing with a partner will ingrain safety techniques that you would never be able to learn in preparation. Chasing with an experienced partner is the best decision I made as a noob (which I still kinda am). Be safe; do it.

I thought about that for next year, maybe plan my vacation for June or some thing like that and see if anyone is going to be chasing up North East of me and see if I can tag along. In the mean time, I can do research, learn how to read the radar better, get my kit up to snuff and learn learn learn

 

[Scott Hammel]

Colorado had a huge season; IMO the storm of the year was in the southern part of that state on 5/31. Check the related REPORT threads for exhibit A. Some of the best storms are in your state. The rockies are like a free front.

One thing I don't think I've seen yet: find an experienced partner to chase with for a while. Not only will you get to split costs and learn a LOT of stuff that would take you longer to learn on your own, but, most importantly, you'll learn what to do in dangerous situations. I can only imagine what would have happened to me on my "first chase," when I got under a wall cloud that had just produced a tornado a mile away from where I caught it near the Ames airport. If that had something down still, I may not be here today because of such stupidity!

Chasing with a partner will ingrain safety techniques that you would never be able to learn in preparation. Chasing with an experienced partner is the best decision I made as a noob (which I still kinda am). Be safe; do it.

Cosign on all of this! Colorado has been a gold mine the past 2 seasons at least. I've got 6 tornadoes in Elbert County alone over the past 2 years! Throw in Campo (my vote for tornado of the year) and a few others from Sheridan Lake/Towner back in May and you can't go wrong. Just stick with it man, learning to read all of the various models makes such a huge difference. I'm still learning new stuff every day so believe me when I say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel...