Storm Chases: Most successful event.

[craig buchanan]

My most successful chase was the first one with my future wife. We correctly decided not to drive around a blind bend in the road. Had we not, we would have driven directly in to a tornado actively destroying the town...

Which only goes to show the wisdom of the words from this years season of Storm Chasers that no sane scientist chases in Arkansas.

 

[afischer]

Even though I have some "less-big" sentimental favorites, here are my top 3.

May 22, 2004 - Alexandria and Daykin-Hallam wedges... on storm from its birth on the dryline bulge west of Belleville KS. A big CAPE big SRH day that produced giant tornadoes.

August 24, 2006 - watched a storm initiate north of Pierre SD, move ESE, and produce several tornadoes, missing the 3 largest due to being out of position on spotty roads. It was a "dry" classic for much of its life til it reached the warm front, with high-based high-contrast tornadoes... the storm cut me off right before producing the 45-minute wedge near Wessington, and even missing that it was still the coolest storm I've ever been on.

September 16, 2006 - the Salem/Canistota tornado was probably the nicest tornado I've ever seen (I prefer cones and stovepipes to wedges)... lots of cool fluid motions, and developed high contrast as it crossed I-90. For some reason it seemed to be moving extremely fast, too, though I don't think the storm itself was ever moving faster than 45mph.

 

[Danny Neal]

UPDATED TO NOON :::: DECEMBER 14TH

Quinter leading the way with 4 votes and then five tied with 3. Remember you can post any event on a storm chase. Whether it was a beautiful shelf cloud or an apocalyptic EF5.

 

[scott r currens]

For me two chases stand head and sholders above the rest.

May 29,2004: Attica/Argonia/Conway Springs
I shot more minutes of tornado footage on this day than I had on the prior 123 chases combined.

June 12,2004: Mulvane
Seeing Eric's Mulvane shot in person...what else could a chaser ask for?

 

[Shane Adams]

As I expected, the highest-profile event of 2008 is leading this poll. Just a reflection of the influx of new blood into chasing and (more to the point) into StormTrack.

I'd love to see this poll across the entire storm chase world, newbies and old veterans alike. I'd wager 1991 and 1995 would give Quinter a run for its money.

 

[Danny Neal]

As I expected, the highest-profile event of 2008 is leading this poll. Just a reflection of the influx of new blood into chasing and (more to the point) into StormTrack.

I'd love to see this poll across the entire storm chase world, newbies and old veterans alike. I'd wager 1991 and 1995 would give Quinter a run for its money.

I was actually hoping to get their feedback.....I knew the more recent events would dominate. I shot out some emails to many veterans and maybe I can get a response or two. I am surprised I haven't seen a Dimmitt, Pampa, Allison, Andover, Red Rock, or even Spencer reply yet..... It is what it is I guess.

 

[Eric Treece]

I will 4th May 10, 2004........I think it will be a long time before I ever feel so satisfied after a chase as I was that night. What an awesome day. Sat north of Simla and watched the storm form for well over an hour before the first tornado touched down.

 

[Danny Neal]

Updated 5:15 PM :: DECEMBER 14TH

3 way tie for first now.

May 10th, 2004
May 29th, 2004
May 23rd, 2008

Gotta love May eh?

 

[Laura Duchesne]

Believe it or not, for me, it was June 5, 2006. I chased with friends Ron Gravelle and Scott Keddie.

I felt the entire day was planned out very well. During the early afternoon hours, we had time to grab some Dairy Queen ice cream and visit the site of the Manchester, SD tornado. We then headed west to Sanborn county in SD, after a classic supercell erupted. We did not see any other chasers in sight, it felt like we were the only ones out there. We sat beside a field after taking some back roads, watching the wall cloud gather and the rear flank downdraft come down with a clear slot behind the wall cloud... all while the birds chirped. We could hear an unforgettable hail shaft roar sound from the core.

We then decided to head south to get out of the storm's path and get into position to watch tornadogenesis. Above a lush green field of grass, the meso began to really tighten and rotate more. Soon, a brief small multi vortex tornado formed. Right after that, a debris swirl formed to the right. Several minutes later, a larger classic elephant trunk/cone shaped tornado had formed. It did eventually become rain wrapped before dissipating and we hoped it did not hit anything. We got photos and video. We saw a really bright green core after the tornadoes, and then we got rear flanked, calling it a day.

It felt like we were in our own little world of wonder. To me, that was a complete satisfying chase experience I will never forget. It never had the structure like the Beloit/Tipton storm, but it still had discernible supercell features and we enjoyed the show without anyone else getting in the way. We never really had to panic and rush on this chase, things kind of planned out itself, which was nice.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

I was actually hoping to get their feedback.....I knew the more recent events would dominate. I shot out some emails to many veterans and maybe I can get a response or two. I am surprised I haven't seen a Dimmitt, Pampa, Allison, Andover, Red Rock, or even Spencer reply yet..... It is what it is I guess.

There might be less than a half dozen people combined on this board who witnessed any of those events - or that at least check this board regularly.

 

[Danny Neal]

There might be less than a half dozen people combined on this board who witnessed any of those events - or that at least check this board regularly.

Which is why I sent emails out to the more distinguished members of the storm chasing community.........

 

[Danny Neal]

Well seems like this thread has stalled, as of now we are still tied. I have gotten a few responses via email which is always encouraging. Ill give it til Sunday before I declare this a done deal.

 

[Verne Carlson]

I am surprised I haven't seen a Dimmitt, Pampa, Allison, Andover, Red Rock, or even Spencer reply yet..... It is what it is I guess.

Or Manchester, SD June 24, 2003 - I didn't chase it but I'd vote for it anyway!!

 

[Danny Neal]

Or Manchester, SD June 24, 2003 - I didn't chase it but I'd vote for it anyway!!

Indeed. Even the year before in Brown County was something that could have made someones chasing career. There are two outbreaks that I really miss out on, well make that 2 outbreaks and 1 event. All 3 happened before I turned 4 years old so obviously I couldn't chase them.

#1 - March 13th, 1990 outbreak. Many significant tornadoes in this early season outbreak. The one thread posted before about the guy whose house got hit (Joel Wright posted it) hit in IL and I would have killed to have been on those storms coming out of the Quad Cities (that is if I didn't head out to Kansas before ) Anyone have any links to this outbreak? Everything I have found has been focused on the Hesston tornado and rightly so. Just looking for some variety

#2 - June 2nd, 1990 - IL/IN outbreak. Several long tracked strong tornadoes occurred in EC IL into IN and OH. Again, being to young! Again any links about this outbreak would be appreciated.

#3 - March 27th, 1991 - I have found NOTHING on this. A F3 tornado hit Lemont, IL, (which is literally 6-7 miles SW of me) and tracked NE into my neighborhood. (The tornado had lifted but there was still a persistent wall cloud with funnels) Again. Being 3 years old it KILLS me to not remember this, especially in my own backyard!

 

[Mark Farnik]

Far and away, my most successful chase day to this point in my chase career was May 29th, 2008. I witnessed 16 tornadoes and the most phenomenal structure I've ever seen on the Tipton/Glen Elder storm, and got great footage of it all

A close runner up is March 28, 2007 - despite only having a cell phone, a weather radio, and a Rand McNally road atlas, I still managed to bag 7 tornadoes that night, thanks to Brett Adair's stellar nowcasting, and I managed to get exclusive, but decidedly crappy footage of the Benkelman, NE multi-vortex (the final tornado produced by the Sharon Springs/Goodland/Bird City supercell) with my parent's antiquated VHS-C video camera as it crossed Highway 34 just east of town.