So... what's the verdict... 2011 chase season

[J Tyler]

Due to work, we can only chase on weekends and after 6pm, so we are very much at the mercy of luck. Distance and time make or break for us. Because of the late start on weekdays, we got 3 night tornadoes this year, and only 1 daytime in Tushka. We never did get a classic weekend of long distance chasing which is heart breaking. On a camping vacation, we did bail early from camping in the rocky mountains to chase a system across Kansas which put down several small short lived tornadoes but had a shelf cloud that was AWSOME. Oh, and I got a ticket for 91 in a 65. Oops.

The real homerun storms were during the week and in Alabama/Mississippi, so its been a thin year for us. We are both Jonesing badly for a nice long weekend road trip to see some beautiful storms. I'm hoping for some luck this fall....

 

[Shane Adams]

That's easy...0 out of 10. This will be the year I always refer back to for the rest of my life when talking about the worst time of my chasing career. Started off awesome on our first chase with a tornado Feb 27. Who knew that would be the high point of the entire year. These stats are misleading...it was a horrible season.

CHASES: 17
MILES: 7,976
AVERAGE CHASE DISTANCE: 469 miles
TORNADO DAYS: 3
TORNADOES: 5
SUCCESS RATIO: 1 in 5.6
STATES CHASED: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas

 

[Michael Towers]

Verdict: Decent year, saw some beautiful storms and bagged a modest number of tornadoes. Most of all I’m just happy to have had the opportunities to get out and chase in some of those beautiful wide open spaces…

Chase days: 9 (4/3, 4/10, 5/11, 5/22, 5/23, 5/24, 6/19, 6/20, 6/21)

Tornado days: 3 (5/22, 5/24, 6/20)

Tornadoes: 6

Miles: 7,000+

States Chased: Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma

Notable Busts:
June 19 North Platte (700+ miles, felt ill, gave a half-hearted chase before checking in hotel)

May 11 Goodland (800+ miles, should have stopped in Iowa)

Epic failure of year: May 22, left the Joplin storm 15 minutes prior to historic EF-5

Best decision (in retrospect) of year: Left the Joplin storm 15 minutes prior to historic EF-5

Strongest tornado: EF-3 (Canton OK, 5/24)

Favorite experience: Watching the Canton storm during the 15 minutes immediately preceding tornadogenesis, all alone in a field without another soul in sight. I hadn’t experienced anything quite like it since 2001 and back then I had far less appreciation for both the storm and the solitude. It really was an amazing spiritual type of experience, one I’ll never forget and one of my all-time favorites!

Biggest lesson learned: Never trust that following a cop ensures safe passage. Doing so put my life in danger on the night of 5/22 in far SW Missouri, the flash flooding came perilously close to washing us both away as I followed him up that dark highway. I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have made it in my previous chase vehicle (Camry), the fact of which segues nicely to the next category…

Best equipment upgrade: New chase vehicle, 2010 Highlander 4x4. Love the improved accessibility, comfort and the ability to quickly exit with ready equipment, really dreading the inevitable baptism of hail stones that await sometime in the future. Somehow I made it through 2011 without a single dent!