Jeff House
Supporter
FIrst of all, @JamesCaruso you should go North that week. While consecutive days are hard to come by, this is the season for the Northern Plains. When a jet stream remains, vs death ridge, the Northern Plains can be rewarding the entire summer. Bring a passport in case it's Canada. I guess reason for visit is tourism.
Second, my down weeks have come and gone. I actually had a couple in June, one of which lined up with action. I just didn't believe flow would verify. So many years I've seen June flow progged in the 7-10 days bust, or just be Pac NW flow. This year Retro Climo reigns. Agree with @Warren Faidley that it's temporary. We'll leave sticky Climate Change for other threads. For now, just enjoy it!
Third, my perception is this season was actually pretty good - for those with time and flexibility to be in the Plains every week. Chasers with family simply can't do that and that's life. I just give thanks for my single years in the Plains. Regrettably I missed a lot on shift. Whie it is easy to think others have this easy chasing life, I've been really lucky with what I got.
I was off work (and miraculously not on-call) for May 12, 2004 the Harper-Attica show. We caught every tornado of the 3-4 cycles, except maybe the first rope. We saw all the stove pipes, elephant trunks, and columns. May 24, 2008 (the first of 3 great 5/24s) we saw the Kingfisher County, OK show - again all of it except the first elephant trunk. That day was particularly lucky, and cemented my preference for outflow boundaries. WF busted. So we missed Quinter, but we got our show 1-2 days later.
Travel chase era: In 2013 we got everything at Rozel, from the gradual hardening of the mid-levels to the main tornado, the double tornado on cycle 2, and the finesse rope-out. In 2016 we got every cycle of Dodge City. That's the third great May 24, the second being a single cycle in 2010. We blew Chapman, but it does not hurt after getting DDC. About every 4-5 years we get a great show. That trend broke with family, but family brings other wonderful rewards.
So the State of the Season is rocking, if one has time and flexibility. Otherwise, I'm thankful for the big opportunities before. At risk of getting off-topic, I think my post if valid for the mental state of the chase season if one has missed the action. This year has lacked synoptically evident events days out, but patterns have showed up. One just had to believe the flow would verify. Still more chances coming up!
Second, my down weeks have come and gone. I actually had a couple in June, one of which lined up with action. I just didn't believe flow would verify. So many years I've seen June flow progged in the 7-10 days bust, or just be Pac NW flow. This year Retro Climo reigns. Agree with @Warren Faidley that it's temporary. We'll leave sticky Climate Change for other threads. For now, just enjoy it!
Third, my perception is this season was actually pretty good - for those with time and flexibility to be in the Plains every week. Chasers with family simply can't do that and that's life. I just give thanks for my single years in the Plains. Regrettably I missed a lot on shift. Whie it is easy to think others have this easy chasing life, I've been really lucky with what I got.
I was off work (and miraculously not on-call) for May 12, 2004 the Harper-Attica show. We caught every tornado of the 3-4 cycles, except maybe the first rope. We saw all the stove pipes, elephant trunks, and columns. May 24, 2008 (the first of 3 great 5/24s) we saw the Kingfisher County, OK show - again all of it except the first elephant trunk. That day was particularly lucky, and cemented my preference for outflow boundaries. WF busted. So we missed Quinter, but we got our show 1-2 days later.
Travel chase era: In 2013 we got everything at Rozel, from the gradual hardening of the mid-levels to the main tornado, the double tornado on cycle 2, and the finesse rope-out. In 2016 we got every cycle of Dodge City. That's the third great May 24, the second being a single cycle in 2010. We blew Chapman, but it does not hurt after getting DDC. About every 4-5 years we get a great show. That trend broke with family, but family brings other wonderful rewards.
So the State of the Season is rocking, if one has time and flexibility. Otherwise, I'm thankful for the big opportunities before. At risk of getting off-topic, I think my post if valid for the mental state of the chase season if one has missed the action. This year has lacked synoptically evident events days out, but patterns have showed up. One just had to believe the flow would verify. Still more chances coming up!
