Post your 2014 chase stats here!

[John Farley]

With the big Arctic outbreak overrunning the country, it looks like chasing may be pretty much done for 2014, so let's get started posting our chase stats for the year. (If the pattern changes and something does still happen before the end of the year, feel free to update your stats.)

I know 2014 wasn't a great chase year overall, but for me it turned out to be my best ever in terms of the number of tornadoes and tornado days. Now granted I don't chase nearly as many days or miles a season as some of you do, LOL! Anyway, here are my stats. These include only chase days on which there appeared to be a real risk of tornadoes, not local outings purely for lightning, thundersnow, rainbows, or other forms of photogenic but non-severe weather.

CHASE DAYS: 8
CHASE MILES: 3,114
BEST CHASE DAYS: A tie between June 6 east of Trinidad, CO and September 29 west of Chama, NM
WORST CHASE DAY: Probably May 22 in eastern CO, which looked like it had potential but really did not pan out. Didn't help that I started the day in the shop to have a leaky tire repaired.
TORNADO DAYS: 4 (May 11, May 21, June 6, September 29)
TORNADOES: 6 (3 on June 6, 1 each the other three tornado days)
STRONGEST TORNADO: High end EF-1 (Two on June 6 and one on September 29)
DAYS I SAW TORNADOES WITHIN SIGHT OF SNOW-CAPPED PEAKS: 2 (June 6 and September 29)
LARGEST HAIL: 1-inch, on May 11 and September 29
STRONGEST WIND (non-tornadic): Around 60 mph on May 11
GUSTNADOES: Several on May 11 and one on June 7
FUNNEL CLOUDS: Saw a nice one nearly halfway to the ground near Garfield, KS on May 11. Pretty sure it was never down, though.
STATES CHASED IN: KS, CO, NM
OTHER STATES CHASED THROUGH: TX, OK
MOST DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO: West of Chama, NM on September 29 - Destroyed two buildings, badly damaged several others, and downed possibly hundreds of trees.
TIMES STUCK: Zero, but came VERY close on a dirt road near Last Chance, CO
LONGEST CHASE: Kansas, May 11, 1175 miles including getting there and back the day before and day after the active chase.
SHORTEST CHASE: New Mexico September 29, 84 miles.
WORST CHASER JAM: May 21 east of Denver, for miles and miles!

FIRSTS: First tornado in CO (I ended up seeing four in CO this season) and first tornado in NM. Also my first tornado in September, first tornado above 7,000 feet above sea level, and my first tornado west of the Continental Divide (all Sept. 29).
SECONDS: The tornado I saw west of Chama, NM on September 29 was the second tornado on record, ever, in Rio Arriba County, NM.

LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Just because an unpaved road doesn't look too bad, don't assume that it isn't too bad.
2. There is no internet service (at least that I could get) in most of southeastern Colorado.
3. You don't have to go into hailstorms to bust windshields. I had to replace two this year, but neither was related to chasing, just ordinary driving in CO and NM.
4. Watch out for raccoons.
5. You CAN see tornadoes in mountainous areas, if the conditions are right.

All of my chase summaries for this year are posted at:

http://www.johnefarley.com/svrwx2014.htm

 

[Dan Robinson]

2014 was a great year for me in both tornado and lightning chases. All of my best days were Midwest events (in Illinois and Missouri). Also of note is that that I had three chases in Kentucky that *almost* gave me my first tornadoes in that state (one may actually have).

CHASE DAYS: TBD
CHASE MILES: TBD, but at least 6,000 miles
BEST CHASE DAYS: For tornadoes, a tie between June 7 in St. Louis and February 20 in Illinois. For lightning, a tie between Chicago on June 30 and St. Louis on August 27.
WORST CHASE DAY: My worst chase days were the days I didn't chase but could have, June 16-18.
TORNADO DAYS: 6 (February 20, May 10, May 11, June 3, June 7, October 13)
TORNADOES: 10 (3 in the Plains, 7 in the Midwest)
STRONGEST TORNADO: The Marshall, MO wedge on May 10 was the most intense tornado I saw this year, but it only received an EF-1 rating due to being in rural areas.
LARGEST HAIL: 2-inch hail in the DIA storm on May 21 cracked my windshield.
STRONGEST WIND (non-tornadic): Likely in excess of 65mph RFD winds northwest of a rain-wrapped tornado near Seward, Nebraska on May 11.
GUSTNADOES: Several on May 11
STATES CHASED: KS, CO, NE, MO, IL, IA, KY, WV, IN
MOST DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO: Likely was Marshall, MO on May 11.
TIMES STUCK: None, thankfully
LONGEST CHASE: Denver storm on May 21. Drove from STL the day before to make it to DIA just in time to meet the storm.
SHORTEST CHASE: October 13, saw a tornado 1 mile from home.
WORST CHASER JAM: Same as John - May 21 east of Denver

My 2014 chase accounts page is up to date, and has links to photos and videos in the event pages:

http://stormhighway.com/chasing/2014.php

My tornadoes page is also up-to-date with the 2014 events listed first:

http://stormhighway.com/tornadoes.php

 

[Mark Ellinwood]

No *confirmed* tornadoes captured on pics/video for my group this year (chased May 18-27), but we were on good/excellent structure almost every day. Got a video of what was probably a gustnado in TX that may have started off as a tornado given its initial position in the storm. The highlight of the trip for me was the back-to-back supercells in Wyoming on May 18 and then in Nebraska on May 19. Granted, I would have traded all of that for June 16-18 given the opportunity. Oddly enough, we never drove in KS or OK this year!

Chase days: 10
Miles Driven: 6,600 (approximate)
States seen: 16 + DC (we drive out from MD each year).
A slightly more detailed summary: http://www.ustornadoes.com/2014/07/10/chasecation-2014-summary/
Daily logs posted throughout the trip: http://www.ustornadoes.com/?s=chasecation+2014

Ian Livingston took our GPS data and hotel+gas logs and made a nice travel summary map of our trip:

As far as chasing on the East Coast this year, well... got in a few tornado warnings and saw interesting structure on a couple of days, but that was it out of the ~5 chases I went on this year.

 

[Jeff Duda]

I thought 2013 was a bad year for me, then 2014 happened. Pretty much struck out in every way, shape, and form this year. Now I know how people felt when 2005 and 2006 happened.

2014 statistics

• Chases: 6 (fewest chases of any year)
• Miles: 2673
• Tornadoes: 0 (no funnel clouds either, first year ever of absolutely no tornadoes)
• Blue sky cap busts: 2
• States chased in: TX, OK, KS, NE
• Best day: May 10 (actually saw two supercells without having to race around. Missed the one tornado and best structure of the day, though.)

Notables:
-I did see a number of marginal or moderately structured supercells. Nothing too thrilling, though. Most days I had only marginal shear to deal with.
-I actually saw a rotating wall cloud briefly near Waurika, OK on May 8. Had to ditch my spot early, though, out of fear of getting trapped under it by traffic.

This year just flat out sucked for me. I was pretty much on my own all year so I just didn't have the motivation to drive 700 miles away for a 5% with barely 40 kts of shear expected. Pretty much every event was marginal at best, and most events were plagued with traffic issues, at least in Oklahoma. The traffic is just ridiculous anymore. I didn't even enjoy being out there half the time; I had to focus so much on navigating the two-lane parking lots that I missed a lot of the show.

I honestly kinda feel like I'm losing the zest for chasing given how badly it's been for me over the past two seasons and the fact that I'm balls deep in my PhD work and trying to establish myself as a professional. The events this year just couldn't top my priority list and I have too many other issues calling for my attention. Mother Nature better start putting on some shows reasonably close to me soon or I'll probably just stop chasing altogether.

 

[Shane Adams]

2014 was my worst season ever. Zero tornadoes, which will make it my first shut out in 18 years of chasing. I set personal records in 6 of the 7 annual stats I keep, but all are the bad kind; fewest chases in a year, fewest total miles driven, (but, curiously, the highest average chase distance), fewest tornadoes and tornado days (none will do that), and, naturally, my all-time worst success ratio. 2011-2013 was fairly lean, but I had no idea how bad this year would be. Oh well, I guess it can't get much worse going forward; not like I'll see minus tornadoes next year.

CHASES: 6*
MILES: 4,361*
AVERAGE CHASE DISTANCE: 727 miles+
TORNADO DAYS: 0*
TORNADOES: 0*
SUCCESS RATIO: N/A*
STATES CHASED: KS,NE,OK,TX

*career low
+career high

 

[Rick Schmidt]

I don't have all the stats, but I did get to see the April 27 Pleasanton tornado, north of Ft. Scott, Ks. We got pretty close to it, and heard the 'waterfall' sound. That was my highlight. I am still kicking myself for missing the Pilger event. (Left Topeka too late).

 

[James Gustina]

2014 was a totally irredeemable piece of turd for me. Other than September 1st, I didn't get close to sniffing a tornado all season and chased at least 4 setups where the moisture just never materialized. A more in-depth look at each chase with photos is located over on my blog: http://thunderingskies.blogspot.com/2014/11/wrap-up-chase-season-2014.html

Stat Line
Chases: 8
Busts: 4
Mileage: 2498 miles (a serious drop-off from the past two seasons)
Largest Hail: 1.75" (Golf ball, March 15)
Highest Wind: 50 mph (Inflow, September 1st)
Tornadoes: A big fat 0
States Chased In: OK, TX, KS, KY, OH, IN
Longest Chase: 748 miles (March 15)

Moisture and off-timed dynamics just ruined this year for me. Got really lucky out of the gates on March 15 and got a weakly supercellular storm with some big hail north of Coleman, TX but it all went downhill from there. Busted consecutively on April 1 and April 2 then didn't chase the only day with tubes on the 3rd. Chased the moisture starved "structurefest" on April 23 across the western OK prairie into N TX. Busted hard April 26 because I bit on yet another day where dews mixed down to mid-50s and the Cu struggled. Was back east from mid-May onwards and chased a greenish squall line on May 21 in Central IN. Didn't chase again until the mountain clusterf**k on July 27 down in eastern OH/KY and got split by both areas of storms that day. Last chase of the year on September 1st was the only good day for me with the large, tornadic supercell initiating just west of 35 across the OK/KS state line and putting out some great structure. Road options screwed me out of the tornadoes just at dusk.

Conclusion: I ended up somewhere between SPS and LAW four, count em, four times out of the eight times I chased this year. Didn't even get to chase the TX PH once which really depresses me now that the first mega-polar air intrusion is already here. Really not sad to see this season end and hoping for a wet winter across the southern Plains with less stupidly timed troughs so 2015 doesn't suck so much.

Chase Map 2014:

 

[Mike Marz]

I would consider this my first year ever chasing with the correct amount of knowledge, and definitely my first year with a good car and a mobile hot-spot. I still haven't made a trip to OK or KS for the dryline supercells that I dream of and have yet to experience...hoping 2015 has better classic dryline setups. I believe we saw a low contrast tornado http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8395&d=1398828691 on April 27th during the cold core set up in Nebraska. On May 11th, I saw what looked to be a huge meso scraping the ground on that huge HP in Nebraska http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=y...&v=JZZmtUD5Tf4 In the video you can see the huge RFD cut with power flashes, and other chasers' videos have been calling that a wedge tornado in there. Maybe someone could tell me if I should count it. But on June 17th, after missing the chase of a lifetime the day before, I KNOW I got to witness this beauty... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb7U-NtmivQ&list=UU6y9a4qglg0OHbnoftc3l4Q Still the best day of my life so far, but my goodness am I still an amateur. If I could have that day over again, I would have calmed down a bit and sat in my position for longer with a tripod camera instead of settling for iphone video. My friends actual camera was filming, but that video is nothing special either. Pretty sad for how close we pulled up to that basically stationary beauty. One thing that I seem to learn every season though, is that I still have so much to learn...as I missed easy tornado opportunities on days where I thought it wasn't worth chasing, like that gorgeous Traer, Iowa day... still not sure how storms did what they did on that day... or days where I wasn't in the correct spot. August 24th we picked the perfect target area, but raced north towards towers going up only to have new towers explode and produce an hour later, exactly where we targeted.

 

[Rob H]

Chases: 4
Blue sky busts: 0
Tornadoes: 5 (all on 6/16)
Largest hail seen: 2.75"

Lessons learned:
1) Always bring my big clunky film cameras with because the one time you don't, will be the one time you want to get shots of two EF-4s on the ground at the same time
2) Meso handoffs can be fast and cover several miles, so be careful when punching cores. We assumed we would intercept the Stanton tornado from a safe distance in a little town by the name of Pilger. A few minutes later we realized that would not be a good strategy for obvious reasons.

Spent a lot of time at work and with my toddler, so I didn't get out much.

 

[Sean Ramsey]

Chase days: 14
Tornadoes: 0
Nicely defined funnels: 3
States chased: OK,KS,TX,NE,WY,CO
Convergence chases: 1 (east of Denver with the rest of you guys)
Luckiest catch: Caught a very nice backlit funnel in near Chugwater, Wyoming on 5/31.
Biggest disappointment: Not chasing the Pilger event.

Lessons learned: 1. Nebraska can be cruel. I chased three different days there this year and came up empty, and the one I didn't chase produced the Pilger twins.
2. When a sign says bridge out ahead, it means the bridge is out. (East of Wellington, TX on 4/23)
3. GRLevel3 can be wrong. (Nebraska 6/03)
4. Don't let go of your camera and tripod for more than a few seconds. My 7D hit the dirt more than a few times this year and I have to totally replace the tripod.

 

[TJKLECKNER]

I thought 2013 was a bad year for me, then 2014 happened. Pretty much struck out in every way, shape, and form this year. Now I know how people felt when 2005 and 2006 happened.

2014 statistics

• Chases: 6 (fewest chases of any year)
• Miles: 2673
• Tornadoes: 0 (no funnel clouds either, first year ever of absolutely no tornadoes)
• Blue sky cap busts: 2
• States chased in: TX, OK, KS, NE
• Best day: May 10 (actually saw two supercells without having to race around. Missed the one tornado and best structure of the day, though.)

Notables:
-I did see a number of marginal or moderately structured supercells. Nothing too thrilling, though. Most days I had only marginal shear to deal with.
-I actually saw a rotating wall cloud briefly near Waurika, OK on May 8. Had to ditch my spot early, though, out of fear of getting trapped under it by traffic.

This year just flat out sucked for me. I was pretty much on my own all year so I just didn't have the motivation to drive 700 miles away for a 5% with barely 40 kts of shear expected. Pretty much every event was marginal at best, and most events were plagued with traffic issues, at least in Oklahoma. The traffic is just ridiculous anymore. I didn't even enjoy being out there half the time; I had to focus so much on navigating the two-lane parking lots that I missed a lot of the show.

I honestly kinda feel like I'm losing the zest for chasing given how badly it's been for me over the past two seasons and the fact that I'm balls deep in my PhD work and trying to establish myself as a professional. The events this year just couldn't top my priority list and I have too many other issues calling for my attention. Mother Nature better start putting on some shows reasonably close to me soon or I'll probably just stop chasing altogether.

How can you live in Oklahoma and not see a single tornado? Tornadoes in Oklahoma are as common as squirrels in Iowa! (joking)

 

[Adam R Davis]

2014 was by far my most dismal year. Being in school way out east in Pennsylvania, I can really only take a week or so each year to chase until I graduate. The week I took off this year was pretty thoroughly ridged. I didn't even bother leaving home. The biggest headdesk of the year, however, were the two tornadoes that touched down about a 20 minute drive away on my birthday. I was in bed sick.

I'd like to forget this year happened.

 

[Danny Neal]

Selectively chased this year. I sat out a number of projected bigger days for various reasons and looking back I didn't regret it. Maybe 4/28.....

I chased the first three days of April and busted like everyone else. Chased a marginal day in mid-April and squeaked out some severe hail. Returned to the Plains for April 27th and caught my first tornado of the year. Chased around the Chicago area in May and got a wall cloud that moved directly over the southside on 5/11 and a supercell that dropped baseballs and 80 mph winds on May 20th. Finally decided to pull the trigger and chase NE again 6/14 where I documented two night time tornadoes before the feast that was June 16th. Overall it was a decent year for me with ~10 tornadoes and many nice storms. If it were not for work I would have chased June 17th and 18th as well, but the 16th was more than enough to quench my thirst.

7 chases
10 tornadoes
Many thousands of miles traveled
Every tornado I documented in 2014 was in the state of NE.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

2. When a sign says bridge out ahead, it means the bridge is out. (East of Wellington, TX on 4/23)

That's where you're wrong, sir. I traveled down that highway that same day, and decided to see if the bridge was actually out. Well, it was, the road was closed and everyone was turning back. I noticed a gap and a gravel road to the right. We poked our heads over and found a gravel path with a small bridge over the creek for equipment to drive over. No signs said do not enter so we just went for it.

Anyway, my stats for 2014. Not a stellar year by any means, but I had some good moments.

Chases: Idk, a lot
Tornadoes: 6 (maybe 7)
Tornado days: 3 (or 4) (5/11, 5/26, 6/6, possibly 10/9)
States chased in: TX, OK, KS, NM, CO
Luckiest day: sticking to the south target on May 11, and bailing on the first tornado producing storm to get the second one in line for a 3rd tornado that day.
Biggest disappointment: May 21...not being able to see anything in that storm that was in perfect terrain. And not biting down on the June 16/17 setup.

Lessons learned - 1) My Fusion does horrible in mud
2) Reserving a big table at The Big Texan is easy even on short notice
3) Google maps LIES
4) Punching through the vault at night is not smart, especially with not many road options and chasing solo
5) There's ALWAYS a good central/upper Plains setup in June. Never skip out if you can

 

[Skip Talbot]

My 2014 Chase Stats
Chases: 40 (career high)
Miles: 25,546 (career high)
Average Chase Miles: 639
Tornado Days: 7: 2/20 (1), 4/28(1), 5/11(3), 6/13 (1), 6/16 (3), 6/17 (1), 8/23 (1)
Tornadoes: 11
Miles Per Tornado: 2,322
Most Destructive Tornado: EF4 on 6/16
Largest Hail: 2.6 inches on 6/21
Worst Busts: 4/27
Days I Wished I Chased: 5/10, 7/6, 6/18
Windshields Cracked: 1 on 8/31 (already cracked and re-cracked though)
Times Stuck: 1 on 8/23
Speeding Tickets: 0
Firsts:
First February and August tornadoes
First MS Tornado
First OH and AL chases
First multiple concurrent violent tornado intercept (2 EF4s on 6/16)

States Chased (Or Chased Through): IL, WI, MO, IA, MN, OK, KS, NE, SD, CO, WY, TX, AR, NM, MS, AL, IN, OH, TN
Longest trip for single chase: 6/3 at 1,415 miles
Shortest Chase: 9/10 at 123 miles
Furthest Tornado Intercept From Home: 6/13 Aladdin, WY at 1,028 miles
Closest Tornado Intercept From Home: 2/20 Winchester, IL at 47 miles

Misc/Fun Stats:
Most Subway stops in one day: 4 on 6/16
Average Tornado Rating: EF2.2
Nights Camped in Van: 6


2014 was my best chase year since 2010. We had several chases with very intense, memorable, and photogenic tornadoes, most notably on 4/28, 6/16, and 6/17. There were a handful of other tornado days as well, and while not particularly impressive or photogenic events, they included several personal firsts for the time of year and location of intercept. Between jobs, and before starting a family, I decided to really live it up this year and chase as much as possible. Brindley and I chased several stretches where the tornado probabilities were quite low, and while this is reflected in my tornado to chase ratio, bagging a tube every single chase is not why I chase. The plains weather and scenery, friends, and experiences is really why I'm out there, and the tornado is the cherry on top. I also managed to chase excessively without going into debt thanks to a handful of media of sales and driving for COD Trip 5, so a success there. I think I might have at least broken even too, which would be another first for me.

Edit: Wow, I actually forgot a tornado day: 6/13 in Wyoming. I can't keep track of them anymore.

Notes on tornado count: I had several other days that were super close. 6/7 in IL I had a tiny rope funnel that was two thirds condensed, and I originally counted it, but decided to drop it after further review. 6/29 in Iowa we had a nice cone funnel half way down underneath a rapidly rotating wall cloud with classic structure. That's probably the closest I've come to a nice supercellular tornado without it happening. There were a couple funnels on 6/16 which other chasers counted as tornadoes. We couldn't confirm the dust whirls so decided against it, and we also counted the Wakefield satellite tornado as the rope out of Pilger, so we ended that day with a count of 3 while many other chasers were counting 5, 6 or more tornadoes.