Post Your 2013 Chase Stats!

[Skip Talbot]

2013 season chase stats: post 'em if you got 'em. Disregard this thread if you don't like keeping count, or don't like seeing others' numbers. Reply with your own stats, and feel free to add or remove fields. Post your stats even if you didn't catch a tornado this year. It's not a competition. It's just for fun!

My 2013 Chase Stats
Chases: 31
Miles: 23,079 (career high)
Average Chase Miles: 744
Tornado Days: 5 on 5/27(1), 5/31(2), 10/3(1), 10/4(2), 11/17(1)
Tornadoes: 7
Miles Per Tornado: 3297
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 10/4
Largest Hail: 1.5 inch on 8/1
Worst Busts: 5/18, 5/19
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/15
Windshields Cracked: 1 on 8/1 (although it was already cracked)
Times Stuck: 0
Speeding Tickets: 0
Firsts:
First October and November tornadoes
First multiple state tornado intercepts in a single chase (Nebraska and Iowa on 10/4)
First multiple violent tornado intercepts in a single chase (2 EF4s on 10/4)
First encounter with fresh damage and injuries (10/4 damage, 11/17 damage and injuries)

States Chased (Or Chased Through): IL, WI, MO, IA, MN, OK, KS, NE, SD, CO, WY, TX, AR
Longest trip for single chase: 4/17 at 1,786 miles
Shortest Chase: 5/28 at 188 miles
Furthest Storm Intercept From Home: 5/10 Uvalde, TX at 1,081 miles
Closest Storm Intercept From Home: 11/17 Lincoln, IL at 34 miles
Furthest Tornado Intercept From Home: 5/31 El Reno, OK at 630 miles
Closest Tornado Intercept From Home: 11/17 Gifford, IL at 103 miles

Misc/Fun Stats:
Aerial Chases: 1 (5/18)
Times Vomited on Aerial Chases: 3
Chases in/with TIV: 8
Times TIV temporarily broke down: 2
Wienermobile Sightings: 1
Combined Tornado Widths: 6.85 miles
Average Tornado Width: 0.98 miles
Nights Camped In Van: 8

Before the fall season salvaged the year a little, 2013 was shaping up to be one of my worst chase seasons numbers wise since I started regularly going to the plains. At 7 tornadoes, it's my lowest tornado count since 2009. Additionally, this year featured some of the most painful and unbearable moments I've experienced while chasing. May 31 was a very stressful and dangerous chase for us, but was most devastating because of the loss of Tim, Paul, and Carl. On May 18, not only did we miss one of the most photogenic tornadoes of the year, but I was so airsick I didn't even care. It was one of the worst days of my life I was in such agony. Further heartbreak was felt on 10/4 and 11/17 after my first encounters with damage and injuries. The season was characterized by massively large, ugly, destructive, and hearbreaking tornadoes.

Despite the negatives, 2013 also had many magical and memorable moments. The few times I did get good looks at incredibly large tornadoes, I was overwhelmed with awe or adrenaline. The trips out with the TIV team were an adventure, and something I'll never forget, despite the weather not cooperating. Brindley and I also had a great time even on some of the most marginal of chase days and made the most of our down time: hiking through remote areas of southern TX, western NE, and the Black Hills in SD; staying in historic or character rich places like Hyannis, NE and Hot Springs, SD. Lots of good times, but I'm hoping 2014 goes quite a bit better for us.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Okay, I'll bite. My season was similar to Skip's, I guess, and I've heard the same theme reverbrating throughout the chaser community. I have copy/pasted Skip's stats as a template here. Sorry for the plagiarism:

My 2013 Chase Stats
Miles: Approximately 22,000 (career high: yes, me too)
Tornado Days: 3 on 4/17(1), 5/28(1), 5/31(2)
Tornadoes: 4
Miles Per Tornado: 5500
Most Destructive Tornado: El Reno
Worst Bust: 5/18, a day I literally flipped a coin to choose between N KS and S KS ("Rozel") targets and the coin toss came up N KS.
Windshields Cracked: 1... Storm at home in July blew an upstairs (decorative) shutter off the house which landed directly on my car's windshield... but it was in pretty bad need of replacement before then, anyway.
Times Stuck: 0
Tickets: 0
Tornadoes missed by about 20 minutes: 2 (5/20, 5/27)
States Chased (Or Chased Through): IL, MO, OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, CO, WY, TX, MT

What I learned in 2013 (among other things):
Don't chase anywhere near OKC (DFW was already on that list)
Sleeping in the car is actually kind of a good idea sometimes
Tim Samaras was an even cooler guy than I previously knew
Don't blindly take roads without consulting the map even if it's morning

 

[Zack Cooper]

My 2013 Chase Stats
Chases: 8
Miles: 6,361
Tornado Days: 2 on 4/18, 5/18 (one month apart, pretty cool)
Tornadoes: 4
Strongest Tornado: EF4 on 5/18
Largest Hail: No hail!!!!!
Worst Busts: 12/21
Days I Wished I Chased: Too many lol!
Windshields Cracked: none thank goodness
Times Stuck: 0... ALMOST on 12/21.. had to help other chasers who did get stuck... not weather related however.
Speeding Tickets: 0.... 2 written warnings however.
Firsts:
First time in Kansas
First ef 4
First season with over 5,000 miles


States Chased (Or Chased Through): LA, AR, OK, KS, MS
Longest trip for single chase: 5/18 at 1800 miles
Shortest Chase: 2/18 at 27 miles

 

[James Gustina]

I had probably the worst season since I started in '08. I was on a vacation out west from the May 18-31 period and essentially missed the entire season. School also interfered a lot going into May.

Chase Season 2013
Miles Traveled: 2752
Chase Days: 7
Tornado Days: 1 (4/17)
Busts: 3 (3/9, 7/9, 9/27)
Tornadoes: 1 (4/17)
Largest Hail: Tennis Ball 2.5 in. (2/9)
Highest Wind Gust: 85 MPH (estimated) (4/17)
Best Chase Day: October 4 (in OK)
States Chased: OK, KS, TX, IL

Firsts
First Oklahoma tornado
First April tornado

Random Stuff
New chase vehicle (Andrew's old Jeep)
Chased the panhandle three times

Conclusion: It was a rough year, I'm surprised I even hit 2000 miles considering I barely got out at all this season. The October 4 supercell west of Clinton was a nice little consolation prize to end the season but 2014 can hopefully only be an improvement.

 

[JeffGonzales]

Chase Season 2013
Miles Traveled: 16,400
Chase Days: 23
Tornado Days: 6 (4/17 (1), 5/18 (3), 5/27 (2), 5/31 (2), 6/12 (2), 10/4 (2))
Tornadoes: 12
Busts: 0 (blue sky bust)

Largest Hail: Tennis Ball (5/26)
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 10/4
Best Chase Day: 5/18 (Rozel)
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/28
States Chased: OK, KS, NE, SD, MN, IA, TX, CO, MO
Times Stuck: 0
Speeding Tickets: 1

Firsts
First October Tornado


Random Stuff
# of tornado video probe deployments: 3
# of tornado video probe intercepts: 1 (5/31, but too dark & rain wrapped)

 

[Dan Robinson]

Tornado chase days ... 23
Tornado days ............ 6
Tornadoes ................ 12
Tornadoes by state ... IL: 5, KS: 4, OK: 3
Tornadoes by region .. Midwest: 5, Plains: 7
Tornadoes by month ... May: 7, June: 1, July: 4

I haven't figured out my mileage totals yet this year, but it's up there. I bought my car in October of last year with 44k miles on it, it now has 81k. About 6,000 of those 37,000 miles are trips to WV and PA, the vast majority of the rest are chasing miles.

 

[Rob H]

Hrm don't have stats on mileage, but it was definitely the lowest out of the last 4 years. I started a new job with a major project getting busy in late May, and I had my first child who was colicky. Ma Nature also didn't really cooperate as we all know.

Chase days: 6
Tornadoes: 8
Tornado states: CO, KS, NE, IA
Biggest hail: 2"

Firsts:
1. Coming across injuries
2. National media interview
3. Got black fly fever
4. Chasing a tornado emergency
5. Did not set foot in Oklahoma or Texas the entire year

Clawed really hard for a birdfart of a tornado (not a landspout) out in Colorado in April. Saw Rozel. The next day saw the Wichita area tornadoes. Didn't chase again until late June in MN and contracted black fly fever which sucked. Next chase was 10/4 and seeing the Wayne, NE and Cherokee, IA tornadoes. Sad I missed out on the 4 large tornadoes in Oklahoma and Bennington, but happy I got what I did with as little time as I was able to devote to chasing.

 

[Shane Adams]

CHASES: 13
MILES: 4,526
AVERAGE CHASE DISTANCE: 348 miles
TORNADO DAYS: 4
TORNADOES: 8
SUCCESS RATIO: 1 in 3.2
STATES CHASED: KS,OK,TX

 

[Jacob Ferden]

Chases: 13
Miles: 4,469
Avg. Distance: 344 miles
Tornadoes: 0
States Chased: KS, OK, TX
Days in which I missed significant tornadoes while chasing: May 18th, May 19th, May 20th, May 27th, May 28th, May 31st
Haboobs Encountered: 2
Gout Attacks: 1
The Gist: 2013 can't end soon enough. It sucked.

 

[Jeff Duda]

As I have lamented before on this forum, 2013 will go down as my worst chasing year since my first serious chase season in 2008. However, I would put 2008 better than 2013 given the quality of the one good day I had in 2008.

2013 season chasing page (which I didn't put much effort into this year given how bad the year was for me)

2013 stats

• Chases: 9
• Tornadoes: 1
• Tornado days: 1
• Miles: 3400
• States chased in: KS, OK, TX
• Best day: None that qualify as a solid day.

2013 was the year of making the wrong decision for me.

Failure cases
-April 7: Missed the tornadic storm in Kansas because I stuck to the dryline to the south near Woodward. My one cap bust for the year.
-April 17: Was in Lawton at the time others saw a tornado there. Never saw it. Got stuck on the north side of the Red River near Frederick as the Vernon, TX storm dropped at least two tornadoes across the river and apparently just out of view. Saw great structure after dark, but decided not to play in the mess of a mesocyclone that others apparently punched and witnessed a tornado in.
Where the really bad part of my season kicked in:
-May 18: Missed the Rozel, KS tornadoes despite being on that very cell about an hour before it tornadoed. Liked the southern play better and wanted to stay closer to home.
-May 19: Managed to see a brief elephant trunk tornado near South Haven, KS, but missed all of the OKC-area tornadoes. Got c$@k-teased by cold-frontal storms all the way back home through N OK.
-May 20: Didn't heed my own advice and missed the Moore tornado while screwing around near Lindsay, OK on one storm that evaporated in front of my eyes. Also failed to get to the Bray storm until after it produced its last tornado.
-May 23 (my last chase of the year): Was 2 hours late for initiation in W TX and dealt with close CGs and large hail in an unfamiliar desolate area of W TX (near Paducah, Guthrie, and Benjamin).
-Did not chase any of the next week.

Lesson(s) learned:
1a) Some years, it just won't happen for you no matter what you do.
1b) Your degree of success in seeing tornadoes can be a matter of things not directly related to forecasting. For example, you may target one area, but on your drive to the target area witness storms going up in an area you didn't expect them to and start to look good. That area may be closer to you than your target area, so you divert to the alternate area/storm instead and end up seeing tornadoes that you would not have otherwise seen had you arrived at your target area at a different time.
2) If there is a 10% hatched tornado risk covering any part of the OKC metro area, DO NOT LEAVE HOME UNTIL A TORNADO IS IMMINENT NEARBY.

 

[Sean Ramsey]

Chase days: 17
Tornadoes: 6
Tornado days: 3
Miles: 6200
Blue sky busts: 0
States chased: OK, TX, KS, CO
Best chase day: Rozel, KS
Most significant tornado: Moore, OK
Best structure storm: Burlington, CO
Day being chased by storm: El Reno

Summary: My season can be boiled down to the two weeks in late May between Rozel and El Reno. I saw tornadoes three straight days: May 18th (Rozel), May 19th (South Haven), and May 20th (Moore). I chased the exact same area for Bennington the day before and didn't return the next day due to work, so I missed out on it. I started out on El Reno, but due to proximity to home had to bail on it. I had my fill of shelf clouds this year as well.

More than anything it was tough on the heart.

 

[Brett Roberts]

Chases: 21
Miles: ~10,000 mi.
Average Chase Miles: ~475 mi.
Tornado Days: 7 on 5/15 (1), 5/18 (2), 5/20 (1), 5/27 (1), 5/28 (1), 5/31 (1), 10/4 (2)
Tornadoes: 9
Quality Tornado Intercept Days: 3 on 5/18 (2), 5/28 (1), 10/4 (1)
Quality Tornado Intercepts: 4
Miles Per Tornado: ~1100 mi.
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 5/18, 5/27, 10/4
Worst Busts: 5/19, 5/20
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/17, 5/26
Times Stuck: 0
Speeding Tickets: 0

Firsts:
First October tornado
First Iowa tornado
First time missing violent tornadoes within 20 mi. of home on consecutive days (5/19, 5/20)

Other:
Second season seeing no tornadoes until May (2008)
Second season chasing only once in June (2012)
Most out-of-state tornado days (5)
Most wedge days (4)

States Chased (Or Chased Through): TX, OK, KS, NE, IA
Longest trip for single chase: 6/14 (1105 mi.)
Shortest Chase: 5/28 (120 mi.)
Furthest Tornado Intercept From Home: 10/4 at Moville, IA (515 mi.)
Closest Tornado Intercept From Home: 5/31 at El Reno, OK (35 mi.)

 

[Michael Carlson]

CHASES: 10
MILES: ~9000 (Rough estimate)
AVERAGE CHASE DISTANCE: ~450 miles (Rough estimate)
TORNADO DAYS: 2
TORNADOES: 4
STATES CHASED: CO, KS, WY, NE, OK Pan.

Firsts:
First time getting a high contrast photo of a large tornado from the RFD region, defiantly a bucket list item for me.
First time chasing tornadic storms in NE WY, tough terrain but worth it since there is less people.
First time chasing solo on a big day 5/18, usually have at least 1 person with me on bigger days.
First time using the K.I.S.S method to chase, never really over thought any chase, stuck to my target and most of them panned out.

Lessons Learned/Continued:
Chase Marginal Setups: Each year I find myself targeting more marginal setups due to traffic and go out one or two big days, only chase I encountered bad traffic was 5/18 but stuck to the gridded dirt roads and wasn't to bad.
Avoid Oklahoma: Several years I made it a rule to never chase setups in W OK to E OK, way to many chasers/locals for my liking and roads would get to dangerous, not worth the stress. I will still target the panhandle region to the far W.
K.I.S.S method: I am going to use this method with each season, I think its my growth/experience in this hobby. using less equipment, less second guessing, less stress. It makes things more enjoyable and gives me more of a challenge in the forecast department.
Keeping it fun: I don't get pissed anymore about missing a tornado day, it will happen and there is no point in raggin'. Enjoying the moment and just having fun, bust days will happen and not every chase is great but keeping an optimistic attitude will go along way towards success.

 

[Greg McLaughlin]

Tornado Days 5 (5/16, 5/19, 5/27, 5/30, 5/31)
Tornadoes 7
Derechos 2

Biggest busts of the year (5/18....missed Rozel for target along OK/KS border, 5/20....ate lunch in Newcastle, OK right across the street from where the Moore tornado would touch down 1hr15m after we left. That was our (Casey Zandbergen) target.

Firsts
5/30 Broken Arrow, OK EF2 First daylight tornado in Tulsa metro since I started chasing.
First season I have chased two derechos (6/27 through Wichita, KS and 7/23 through Tulsa, OK)

 

[Nick Nolte]

My 2013 Chase Stats
Chases: 21
Travel Days: 7
Total Miles: 17,307
Average Chase Miles: 575
Tornado Days: 6 on 4/8, 5/18 (2), 5/19, 5/30, 5/31 (2), 11/17
Tornadoes: 8
Miles Per Tornado: 2163
Estimated Fuel Cost Per Tornado: $261
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 11/17
Largest Hail: 2.75 inch on 11/17
Worst Bust: 5/20
Windshields Cracked: 1 on 11/17
First November tornado

States Chased (Or Chased Through): MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, IA, MO, SD, NE, KS, OK, CO
Longest distance on a chase day: 1,072 miles on 10/4
Shortest Chase: 8/12 at 139 miles
Furthest Storm Intercept From Home: 5/30 Thackerville, OK at 1,105 miles (although we didn't so much as intercept as watch dissipate)
Closest Storm Intercept From Home: 8/12 near Dexter, MI at 22 miles
Furthest Tornado Intercept From Home: 4/8 Bonny Reservoir, CO at 1,068 miles
Closest Tornado Intercept From Home: 11/17 Long Point, IL at 297 miles

Misc/Fun Stats:
Chases in/with TIV: 5
Wienermobile Sightings: 0
Chase days not in my vehicle: 5
Number of times I ran into Michiganders who also saw the March 15, 2012 Dexter, MI Tornado: 1 in Sioux City, IA

This was an interesting year with some great times and some bad times. I know it sounds like hyperbole, but the El Reno chase was easily one of the most freaky days I've chased. It's still very clear in my mind watching that monster churn away a couple miles to our north just trying to grasp the scale and then to see the regular size tornadoes carousel around the outer edge, holy crap. The chase after the El Reno wedge was also very crazy dealing with the insane traffic, damage, downed lines and trees everywhere as I tried to get west and south to meet back up with Skip and Jenn as well as escape the storm complex. The Washington day was also pretty crazy as I left home at about 4am, drove to Kankakee then over to Dwight where we waited for maybe an hour for initiation then intercepted that monster tornado before lunch.

I'd like to think I was more selective with my chase days this year and as a result put the lowest number of mileage on my car while still seeing some quite memorable storms. The week spent chasing (and driving!) the TIV was very memorable even though the storms didn't cooperate. So, big thanks to Skip and Jenn for inviting me along on that trip, it was a great time with great friends!

One of the quirkiest moments of the year happened on June 24 when myself, Skip, Brindley, Williamson and Sean were sitting in a parking lot next to the TIV under a beautiful blue sky near the river when this gentleman comes up and asks what the tank is. Once he establishes we are chasers, he starts talking about how he's from Dexter, Michigan and saw the tornado on March 15th, 2012 from his friend's back porch. His story blew my mind and I remarked that I was chasing that storm that day. I told him where I lived and he's like "yeah! I got friends that live there" then he proceeded to show me his shots of the tornado on his phone which were just as fine as anything I got that day. I just find it incredible that I can run into someone a thousand miles from home where we have these events in common.

To 2014! *raises glass*