Night Storm Chasing Techniques

[Robert Edmonds]

While there have been many threads on the topics of should you or not storm chase at night or do you do storm chase at night... I want this thread to be a little different. Storm chasing is largely managing the associated risks. Therefore I am wondering, for those who have experience chasing at night, what additional precautions do you take while chasing at night. What is your proximity to the storm typically, what do you do to avoid road hazards (i.e. flooded streets, etc), etc? How do you and your chase partners interact differently at night, do you have chase partners? I assume there is also a larger dependence on data, how do you use this data differently at night?

While I do not chase at night, and am not considering chasing at night, I bring this up just out of general curiosity...

 

[Dan Robinson]

Having done it many times, I don't see a big difference in chasing at night vs during the day as far as the strategy and risk managements go. To me it's a myth that it's so much more dangerous - particularly if you have radar in the vehicle. In other words, if it's not safe to do something at night, I won't do it during the day either. At night, lightning provides not only the illumination for cloud features, but can many times be an indicator of the position of a storm itself, more so than during the day, as even the weaker flashes are visible. The same safety precautions apply at night as they do during the day (as in flooded roads, hail cores, developing tornadoes, etc).

The only major thing that would make me not want to chase at night is if it would be a long-distance drive *and* if the majority of the action was going to happen after sunset - as in no chance of daytime tornadoes. It is very hard to document tornadoes at night, usually the only thing you'll come home with is fleeting lightning-illuminated video grabs. I'd also skip out if it was a lightning-less low-topped event. Without lightning, there's nothing to see. I will chase any good nighttime event close to home, regardless of tornado risk, if only for the lightning photography.

But again, daytime vs nighttime strategy is essentially the same. I really can't think of anything I do differently once the sun sets, aside from paying more attention to lightning flashes to help me see what's happening visually.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I chase at night since I chase for a local TV station. I think the risk of chasing at night is much greater than in the daytime. I give myself a lot bigger buffer zone at night than in the day. Flooded roads are harder to see, along with damage in the road and storm features. No wet dirt roads for me at night, period! I've been stuck in the mud at night and it's one of the worst feelings a chaser can have.

I typically chase alone, so during night chases, I have to be extra cautious.

 

[Chris Hayes]

In 2003, I said I was going to quit night chasing after coming within 2 miles of an F2 wedge on May 15, 2003 in Wheeler County, TX. However, I cannot resist it. HOWEVER, I will NOT chase at night if I don't have data access. I NEED to know what is going on around me when it comes to storm motion, etc.

A fine example of this came on May 22, 2005. Around 1130 at night we departed ICT (Wichita) to go do some lightning photography of a supercell storm near the city. I had no intention of doing any actual chasing. I just wanted to go do some lighting photography. As we were leaving the city and nearing the storm, another popped up, then another, then another. We ended up core punching 3 times if I remember on the way back to Wichita. Most of the hail we encountered was less than golf ball size, but we took a baseball or larger to the side of the truck. The dent is still there to this day.

 

[Mike Bennett]

I have had numerous nighttime chases and don't like doing it, but still will chase at night. The word is "Chase Cautiously".

My number one rule is: I will not drive through water that is crossing the road. Flash flooding can be terrifying. Keep in mind if you drive through areas where water is crossing the road in several places and you make it through and commit further down the road and run into more water, the water behind you, in front of you, and all around you is probably still rising and you can become trapped.

Another hazard is debris and power lines and poles. There is nothing more creapy than being on a lonely blacktop and have power poles laying halfway across the road, driving beside them in an attempt to stay with the storm only to find that further down, the road is completely blocked causing you to have to back out beside the poles and lines.

If I have radar data, I still get pretty close. But I've had some hair raising experiences. In 07, I was on Tangier Rd between Sharon and Woodward,OK. The storm was tornado warned. I'm directly under the meso. (I know, first mistake). It's dead calm and my chase partner and I had our windows down so we could hear. We are crawling about 15 mph and heard one of the worst sounds I've ever heard. It was a high pitch wind and was extremely loud. We never felt the wind, and it only lasted about 5 seconds. I'm convinced we had a spinup very near us and we never saw it. Freaaaky!!! It caused me to pause, and realize I wasn't "Chasing Cautiously".

 

[Melissa Jablonski]

If I were to chase at night it would only be around here on extremly familiar roads. It is not likely though. We must have a million deer around here and they are out in droves at night.
Melissa

 

[Mike Smith]

Don't.

Unfamiliar roads.

Unexpected flash floods.

You can get trapped by a storm much more easily than during the day.

It might be OK to do it in a local area that you are completely familiar with provided you have GPS and radar. Otherwise, it is just too dangerous.

 

[John Wetter]

I'd agree with Dan that it's really just all about risk management. I don't particularly think you 'shouldn't' chase at night unless you REALLY know what the heck you're doing. If you know what you're doing, I have no problem with that. The trick of course is that people rate their own skills much higher than they are in most cases.

That said, especially with radar and GPS, night chasing can be done safely, but you have to leave a little more margin for error. Back off the storm a bit, and it should all be good.

 

[Robert Edmonds]

Don't.

Unfamiliar roads.

Unexpected flash floods.

You can get trapped by a storm much more easily than during the day.

It might be OK to do it in a local area that you are completely familiar with provided you have GPS and radar. Otherwise, it is just too dangerous.

Hi all, thanks for all of your replies. I would like to try and direct this thread to stay on the topic of about the techniques of night chasing. There are several other threads that discuss people thoughts on if you should do this. Again, I do not do this, but was interested in how people manage the (additional) risks of chasing at night.

As many people have mentioned flash flooding is of concern. Yes keeping an eye out for road hazards is a must day or night, but do you limit which roads you use? Are you more careful about having passengers responsible for doing specific tasks to up awareness? These are the types of responses I'm looking for.

I guess what might be good to answer, what is single biggest difference in how you chase at night?

Again thanks for all the replies!

 

[Greg Campbell]

This is pretty obvious, but I'll throw it out there. When chasing monsoon lightning in Az., I've gotten into the habit of keeping a '1 hour' and/or 'storm total' precipitation radar loop window open. I've found that it gives a fair indication of flash-flood potential. Monitoring this might make a good task for the navigator.

 

[Elinor McLennon]

I will chase at night if it is local. I stay off of dirt/mud roads, pay close attention to lightning and make sure someone at home has a rough idea as to my whereabouts. I try to gather as much info on the storm at home so I can focus on driving....hitting a flooded road at 60 will put the fear in you! I stay active on my ham radio so local chaser know where to find me.

 

[Skip Talbot]

I actually like to keep more distance on the storm at night. This is not only for safety's sake, but I have had good success spotting tornadoes from considerable distances. On March 28, 2007 and March 12, 2006 I was able to easily track tornadoes from more than 10 miles away because of lightning illumination. From this far out, you can see the entire storm and the lightning, if its there, gives you superb contrast. If you are under the base there is a greater chance you won't have the proper angle for back lighting the tornado. In daylight hours, you lose the contrast chasing that far from a storm.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Drive slower at night even in high speed limit areas. Even if there is no flash flooding, water ponded on roadways can cause you to hydroplane and potentially lose control. IF that does happen, dont slam on the brakes just coast through it. The force of the water will slow you down quickly and you wont skid out of control.

This happened to me in August of 07 as I was chasing a storm on I-65 in Indiana. Posted speed limit of 65 and I was doing maybe 70 when out of nowhere some ponded water emerged and I had probably less than a second to react. The power was out along the expressway and I did not see it till I was right on it. Made my heart skip a few beats thats for sure. After that I kept the speed lower.

On a side note that was the storm that downed a dozen power trussels with straight line winds estimated at 120mph! I believe it was August 15th 07. I never documented that chase...

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I hate night chasing, even after 12 years or so of doing this I still hate chasing at night.

I remember chasing the very next night after Greensburg got hit, we were chasing within the same area as Greensburg and at night we were out in the middle of nowhere... power was out obviously because of the F5 tornado the night before, so with Greensburg still fresh in our minds we are sitting in the same area in complete darkness with no lights within sight and we start hearing reports of a large wedge tornado nearby. There wasn't a whole lot of lightning so visual of the storm sucked. It was errie and uncomfortable.

On Jan 7th, 2008 we were just east of Springfield, MO during the tornado outbreak in southwest Missouri. There were numerous tornado warnings, several reports of tornadoes to our west. We were parked along a road and decided to go south a few miles, we went a few miles south and turned around and slowly drove north back towards where we had been parked and when we did we discovered that the tornado passed right where we had been parked just a few minutes earlier. I think it was in a nearby house where a lady died.

I just don't like night chasing, I don't like not knowing what is hidden in the darkness. I don't like being surrounded by darkness hearing reports of tornadoes on the ground nearby and not being able to see anything.

 

[Warren Faidley]

I have to agree with Mike Smith and others: Avoid **tornado** chasing at night. Of course, this would not include looking at storms while driving home or to a hotel at the end of a chase day. In reality, what are you going to see? All kinds of tornado look-a-likes illuminated by brief lightning flashes? However, there are exceptions. If you are a spotter, then you may need to be out at night. If you know the area like the back of your hand, e.g., a major city, then you likely know the roads, flood prone areas, etc. We often drive to the outskirts of AMA to see what is rolling in at night as spotters, but we/I do not actually **chase** the storm. If you are seeking to shoot lightning, then you need to be out. I will say that mobile, high-resolution radar makes night chasing a lot safer if you want to do it.

After 20 years of chasing, I think the biggest danger is not so much tornadoes after dark, but rather, impaired or distracted drivers (including cell phone users), especially on rural roads. I had a guy cross the center line a few years ago and nearly take me out. I called DPS, and discovered later he was arrested for DUI.

W.