Preparing for "Nina chasing zones"....

[Andrea Griffa]

Hi all
I was thinking that with this kind of La Nina pattern, I'm expecting more chasing days in the Dakotas, Nebraska and Minnesota (as for common chasing areas) especially after may 20.
Once the real chasing season gets started, we could chase in "jungle" territories like MO, AR, MS and unusual territories like IL, OH, KY, TN, IN, MS, AL, NC, SC.
After may 2008 I would probably not chase anymore in AR and MS, unless the storms would fire in East AR.
Now, that said, it would be interesting to know what are the chaseable areas of these states like IL, OH, KY, TN, IN, MS, NC, SC and wich are the areas to avoid.
Thanks for the support!

 

[Christopher E. Kincaid]

Central IL has an awesome terrian for chasing. Very flat. If the corn planting is delayed or if the crops are slow to develop that helps chasing too. Once the corn gets too high chasing becomes much more difficult here.

 

[Jesse Risley]

Well as far as Illinois goes, most areas north of Interstate 70 have fairly flat terrain since they are essentially till plains. However, some areas south of I-70, down in the Shawnee Forrest region, are fairly difficult to chase due to hills and the natural vegetation of that region. Also, areas near the major metropolitan areas like East St. Louis and Chicago are not going to be chaser friendly due to traffic congestion. Of course you have the usual unfavorable terrain in the immediate vicinity of many river valleys, but that's to be expected.

Data coverage is pretty good across most of the state, but there are plenty of areas where 1x RTT will prevail over the availability of any 3G coverage, though losing data for extended periods of time is very rare due to a rather good network of cell towers in this state. Almost all of the county secondary (highway) roads are paved, and rural areas east of the third principal survey zone, which runs right through the center of the state (meridional) and largely includes everything east of the Illinois River, are laid out in essentially perfect 1 mile x 1 mile road grids. Again, you will find that many of these township roads are also paved.

 

[Bob Hartig]

I agree with Chris: Much of Illinois is fabulous chase territory. It's as flat as a pancake with great road grids. Indiana and Ohio also offer some very good chasing; I haven't chased in those states as much as in Illinois, but overall I've had decent experiences. The northern parts at least are largely farmland. I've encountered more wooded areas than in central Illinois, but overall I wouldn't hesitate to chase in either state. Then again, I live in Michigan, otherwise known as Trees-'R-Us, and just about anywhere is better chase territory than here.

 

[JF Massicotte]

I chased East IL and C IN last year, and I was impressed by the rural road network quality. It was still June so no crop problem at all. Some river valleys are harder to chase but I tought it just added a little manageable challenge.

I have yet to chase East In and OH.

 

[Jason Foster]

I am worried that there will be a shift outside the traditional tornado alley zone. Not happy about it. The look and feel of the Great Plains is something I need for what I want to do on film. While I would chase other areas, in the short term, I have to focus on specific set-ups.

 

[Wes Carter]

Andrea, this map is very revealing about what areas are chaseable in much of the area you describe:

This past Sunday I chased in Western Kentucky and West Tennessee, and everything West of the Tennessee River is chaseable, but northwest of Jackson to Dyersburg and Union City is very flat. The only caveat is the road network is nowhere as good for chasing as it is in Kansas, Nebraska, or Oklahoma. But you can see for a very long way and can position yourself to watch a cell pass by if you play your cards right. Keep in mind that out this far east these are not going to be riding the dryline but will more likely be firing along or ahead of a front so the storm motions are usually much faster than our beloved May/June dryline storms.

Look at the map at Mississippi and Alabama. Northern Alabama is OK above Cullman to the Tennessee state line and east to Huntsville. Eastern Arkansas, the Missouri Bootheel, and Western Mississippi are OK. The biggest problems are again roads and storm motions.

Personally, I don't go east of where I am located in Middle Tennessee to chase. Middle Tennessee has some flat areas here and there, but the road network is not laid out for chasing and there are small towns all over the place. The Cumberland Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains are just too big of obstacles for me to deal with chasing. Also, when you get into South Carolina and North Carolina, there are trees along the highways in much of the place.


I chased for the first time in Illinois last year. In my opinion, it is as good as anywhere in the Plains as far as visibility and road networks go.

I've never chased in Ohio and it has been a long time since I've been there, so someone else can answer for them.

 

[Chip Redmond]

I have chased numerous times in western, northwestern and central parts of Ohio. It is all great terrain and road networks, especially in northwest Ohio are excellent.

I have also spent time chasing in northern to northeastern Indiana too. Its fine as long as you avoid the river valley and associated forest that runs near Ft. Wayne, though I can't think of what that river's name is at the moment.

Chip

 

[Derek Weston]

There have been plenty of great opportunities in the plains during La Nina years. No reason to worry.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Most of Illinois is as flat as western Oklahoma north of I-64 and about 50 miles south of I-64. Missouri is very good north of I-70. Indiana is flat Plains-like prairie generally north of I-70, likewise Ohio along and north of US 35. As the map above shows, northeastern Arkansas and extreme southeastern Missouri are also excellent. Central 'Bluegrass' Kentucky is even half-decent. Google "Interior plains" and you'll find maps that show where the good areas east of the Great Plains states are.

Due to the increasing traffic problems in the Plains, I plan to stick to these areas this season. A quick look at climatology and Youtube confirms there are gems to be found here, albeit more challenging and rare.

If you're interested in seeing some real-life examples of chasing in these areas, I recently posted about this very subject on my blog.

 

[Brian Stertz]

I will always love the E. Arkansas/MO Bootheel area for chasing. Even though you get flooded roads at times and you have the Mississippi and lack of bridges, it's one to produce more times than not.

 

[Andrew Pritchard]

Illinois is god awful chase terrain. And our storms are butt ugly. Avoid at all costs, please. You'll have much more fun in Oklahoma, and have many more chasers to hang out with while doing so.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Illinois is god awful chase terrain. And our storms are butt ugly. Avoid at all costs, please. You'll have much more fun in Oklahoma, and have many more chasers to hang out with while doing so.

Andrew is right, storms in Illinois suck. Move along, nothing to see here.

I there's a 2% on the high plains, and a 15% hatched in Illinois, you better go with the high plains.

 

[James Gustina]

Just to go off of what chip said, basically once you get north of Cincinnati and out of the river valley its flat and open with relatively good road networks. The best area in my opinion is between I-70 and I-80 and west of I-75.

 

[Brandon Copic]

most of Northwestern Ohio is good chase terrain, I haven't had a visibility problem with chasing...most of the time there are trees but just in random bunches together so nothing that creates many problems as if its a forest.