So What's Next?

[Tony Laubach]

90 degrees in Denver usually means one thing... summer's here and chasing becomes less and less frequent... in fact, I'm starting to settle into that summer mode where I may chase a couple Colorado days, but I'm already looking less and less ahead for chasing days.

While I haven't glanced at anything long term, I am seeing the pattern shifting well to the north with a couple chances for some Central and Southern Plains possibly in the future, but other than that, I'm fearing the end of the better chasing in the Plains.

While I'm not calling the season done yet as August likes to surprise us here in Denver, I'm hardly in the "high alert" mode I've been over the passed couple months.

Anyone else in the "winding down" mode? And keep in mind that I will chase good setups if they can happen on my free days, but I'm not looking 5 to 10 days out to find them now.

Anyone think we have a couple sneaky setups left, or is everyone packing it in for the summer heat and hoping for some stuff come the start of fall?

 

[Amos Magliocco]

Winding down and spooled out here...lol. I put more time into chasing this season than ever before (or than I'll probably have for it ever again until I retire), and other things in my life got neglected badly. So now I'm racing back to Indiana to get on with the business of being an adult. I'll have to drop chasing like a hot rock. If I'm lucky, I'll chase again in October during the Fall "window" that didn't materialize in 2004.

I'm behind the 8 ball in many ways, but June was worth it.

 

[Mikey Gribble]

I am still expecting some action in South Dakota, North Dakota, and possibly Nebraska. I have my dad's birthday on Sunday that I need to be at, but after that I plan on heading North. It even looks like they will have a few tornadoes up there tomorrow. I have settled down a little bit, but I am far from throwing in the towel on the season. I think there is a good chance that there will be a couple good tornado days before the end of the month. As far as Kansas goes, I think we are done.

edit- after looking at the models for the first time today, I would expect tornadoes in Scentral South Dakota on Monday if the NAM verifies. I will be heading up there Sunday night if it holds together.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

I think you know better than to say that Kansas is done :wink:

At any rate, I can tell you that I'm checking the river and lake levels to go kayaking more than I've been checking the weather lately. My mind has taken to other things while still keeping the weather on the list.

I do like the late season storms though. It's kind of like having my birthday three weeks after Christmas, you still get a few small gifts after bringing in the big haul

It's likely I'll see you out in the eastern plains of Colorado Tony as harvest is looming on the in-laws farm. Wheat harvest is like washing your car, it WILL storm.

Tim

 

[Dan Robinson]

Like Amos, I'm returning home to nearly one month of accumulated work, bills and other responsibilities that require immediate attention. I have to relearn all of my friends' names, spend several days uncovering my yard from vegetation, etc. When you get to be in your late 20s and older, the life you leave behind on a chase trip doesn't stop like it used to when you were younger.

So, my chase season has come to a definite close, though I still am wondering how I'm going to stop checking data every day (models, convective outlooks). I still did my SPC routine this morning. Don't know why, because I couldn't chase a 15% hatched tornado risk in my backyard now if I wanted to.

 

[Tony Laubach]

Fortunately, I was able to make a couple quick returns to Denver to ensure me staying up-to-date with various "normal life" items. My biggest adjustment was returning to a normal paycheck schedule, but that seems to be leveling off now...

Yes, normal life is something to miss... but it was nice to come back to the friends I had here and be welcomed as if I had returned from war. Most of my current Colorado friends met me late enough to accept this time consuming hobby of mine right off the bat... all my other friends live out of state and love it when I'm out cause it usually means better chances of seeing them since I'm on the road! :lol:

I figure my season is pretty well done when I return my passenger seat back to the car and catch up with the general maintance. I agree there are a few good days left, but they'll be few and far between... it is definately winding down...

 

[Bill Tabor]

Don't know if I'm totally ready for it to end. I haven't been chasing all the good days and places. For instance I held back on Hill City day. Plus I've been getting spoiled with the local Texas chases the last week or so. Looked at the 180 hour GFS a bit ago and it looks like the mid to upper level ridge will be in place over the majority of the plains during the week. Perhaps SD and ND will still get something during that time, but even there didn't look too intense. Anyone looked out 2 weeks yet? Maybe the good flow will be back briefly before it all ends?

That said I have a ton of stuff to do too, and that is one reason I haven't chased all the good stuff this year. Even so it's been one of my best years.

 

[Shane Adams]

I'm definitely in "winding down" mode, which is always a big disappointment as a lot of my fellow chase bros are just now hitting their stride, as they are able to freely embrace the wonderful, mobile, Summer upper Plains storm season, which will no doubt give them chase opportunities well into August.

I've hoped for years to be able to stretch my seasons into Summer and enjoy the fruits of that time, but right now things still force me to shut it down by the end of June. I did manage to reach the 20-chase mark, which is something I hadn't done since 2002 prior to this season. Another plus is, despite the fact we messed up almost all of the good days towards the end of the season, we managed to nail most of the good ones in the crappy, first half of the year. And good days in April/May were hard to come by this season.

I keep thinking I'm done, and I keep finding myself chasing. I had no clue on the 16th I'd be taking off right after work and chasing northern OK. I had no idea I'd be chasing the weekend of June 10-12. I've been fortunate to get the days I've gotten, despite that once again, a very small window (June 6-9) that I simply could not afford to take off became one of the most spectacular periods of the entire season. Oh well, se la ve (sp?)

But to answer the question, yes. We are in wind down mode. Jo is ready to get her house back to normal again, and so am I to be honest. I'm ready to get back into a 6-7 hour slep pattern, and be able to got to bed and wake up with only work to occupy me, not worrying about whether or not I need to ask off for a chase, or where to target. I love chasing, I love tornadoes, and I still want more. But I'm well-acquainted with reality, and I know my Spring is, barring a miracle, over. So I'm going to embrace it.

I'll be shifting into full-blown video sales/promotion/concepts mode, as I will now go back to giving my DVD sales full-time attention, as well as continue to create possible concepts and ideas for future DVDs. The rest of the year will be a busy one for me, as I'll be releasing not one but two new DVDs by year's end. This Summer I'm doing my 1996-1999 video, and of course towards the end of the year, I'll be doing my 2005 video. With any luck, I'll add a bit more to the 2005 video before it's released :wink:

 

[Susan Strom]

What's next is the North American Monsoon...to hit the Southwest US.

avg start July 7 - avg end Sept 15

Ready to go get it 8)

 

[Brandon Clement]

I am in the real life mode. I have just got done getting my business back up to par for the month and am spending this weekend with my dad and grandmother for father's day. Next weekend I will get my yard and pool back looking good before the neighbors throw a fit. I paid all my bills, filed my hail damage claim, cleaned my truck and even started listing stuff on ebay to start some upgrades for next year. So after next weekend I will start watching the tropics and get all my hurricane gear together. Between work and the tropics I should be able to keep plenty busy until November when the severe weather gets really active for a few weeks here in the south. Then I get to worry about Christmas and then in January I might get to this "winding down stage". Oh yeah and I can't wait for the NFL season to start. Watch out for the Saints (go ahead and laugh) but they are going to be really tough this year.

For those of you that live up north I'm sure you will have plenty of chase days in the coming month or two, but for me I'm done with tornado chasing until the fall. So please get the rest of us some good video.

I'm ready to get back into a 6-7 hour slep pattern, and be able to got to bed and wake up with only work to occupy me, not worrying about whether or not I need to ask off for a chase, or where to target.

I couldn't agree more! I have felt like I'm starring in "The Night of the Living Dead" for a few months.

 

[bill mudd]

gonna crawl back to my second home in the southwest Utah mountains for the monsoon season - and catch some thunderheads/microbursts - and perhaps talk my wife into a trip to MT Rushmore (with the main hope of a northern plains breakout) who knows? long shots will all be to the north now...JMHO
good luck to all you guys
ps my only chase was to Hill City this year and I feel real good about that decision - even though it put my personal life into a slight tail spin......

 

[nickgrillo]

I'm still in Norman right now, but will be leaving tomorrow back for Detroit and will probably get back sometime on MON. I don't think I'll be chasing anymore on the Plains this year, but if there is a decent setup sometime in July, I am totally ready for a IL/IN chase. The next "window" will be in Fall, like Amos said, if it materializes, which hopefully it will, and of course, I will be up for it...

 

[Chris Sokol]

Well, as a few of you may have guessed, I am spending my off time between now and the fall season studying historic events, trying to learn from them. I am also going to be getting much deeper into my photography, and getting ready for the birth of my son in Sept.

I also may be buying a new truck in the next week or so, so pulling everything out of the old one and wiring the new one will definately take up tons of time.

 

[Jeff Wear]

I'm pretty much done for the summer, I'm more than satisifed with my chase trip from June 2-12 and really need to focus on making money again. I will keep an eye out for local chase opportunities after work. I had two decent chases last year on July 2 and 5 within a couple hours drive of the OKC area.

 

[Scott Olson]

Well this is really the time of year where chases become more numerous for me. Once we get this ridge taken care of we should start getting some decent Dakota setups. Nothing like the setups you guys get down South. It's almost always MCS with a couple supercell days. But I get the bulk of the lightning photography with a LLJ cranking up with late June moisture fetch make for some great nocturnal storms. While a good part of the season still remains, I am winding down from the quick response mode. Where Im constantly watching the models and ready to drive 600 miles anytime.

-Scott Olson