Storm Chases: Most successful event.

[Simon Brewer]

This event is probably the most sentimental chase for me, but no tornadoes on this day: April 29, 2000 Northwest Texas
Two of my great freinds were with me on this day and we enjoyed every bit of this chase from start to finish.

I guess my favorite tornado chase would be: May 4, 2003 KS/MO Outbreak. Still, not the most tornadoes, nor the most photogenic, but I loved this chase.

Simon

 

[Rob Satkus]

Some of my oldies but goodies..

1. May 11, 1992 - SE OK...great view of a couple large and damaging (F3, F4) tornadoes near McAlester.

2. April 12, 1991 - Cyclic supercell produced 5 or 6 tornadoes near Enid

3. June 13th 1998 - Great views of tornadoes near Guthrie Ok and in the OKC area, experienced 100+mph RFD winds as well.

4. October 4th, 1998 - Up close and personal with a tornado near Watonga Ok.

5. May 24th 1998 - Numerous tornadoes seen over NC Ok. including a very close encounter with an anticyclonic tornado near Wakita


Honorable mentions:
May 3rd, 1999 - Most tornadoes in one day, including several that no other chasers saw, especially after dark...such an exhausting and devastating day kept it out of the top 5.

May 4th, 2007 - Arnett Ok tornado - rare chance to see a supercell and tornado from initial tower to it's demise at sunset as it evolved (devolved?) into a spectacular LP

MAy 18th, 1989 - First solo chase near Tulsa netted a high contrast cone

April 22, 1985 - first chase is always a fave even tho we didn't see any tornadoes - great supercell west of El Reno Ok...I often wonder if that day had ended in a blue sky bust if I would have continued to chase.

Rob

 

[Greg McLaughlin]

1) May 24, 2008: 8 tornadoes including high contrast video right behind a
tornado as its tearing trees apart. Video on S.O. 2008.

2) June 1, 1999: 2 tornadoes near Checotah, OK. The first tornado was an
F3 around 350yds wide. The second tornado touched down over a lake.

3) June 11, 2001: 2 tornadoes near Ellsoworth, KS outside of SPC tornado risk. This may have been one of my best forecasts.

4) May 24, 2002: Brief, but beautiful multi-vortex tornado just outside of Vernon, TX. This was a difficult chase, and a last minute decision to leave the storm I was on to jump on this storm led to seeing the tornado.

5) April 21, 2001: Hoisington, KS F4. I left Tulsa around noon and headed west on 412 to Woodward. Arriving in Woodward around 4pm I had to make a decision to chase storms in the Texas panhandle or take a chance and play the warm front in Kansas. Storms had yet to fire in Kansas, however there was a growing cu field, so I opted to take my chases on the warm front. I missed the daytime tornadoes in Kansas but made it into Great Bend just as the storm was headed torwards Hoisington to the north. We drove north of town to see a large stovepipe tornado illuminated by the almost non-stop lightning. We could see powerflashes from the tornado as it ripped through Hoisington. The structure of that supercell was one of the most incredible I have ever seen.

honorable mention

June 3, 2001: Murdock, KS....sat around all day with 6500 CAPE and thermo nuclear cap. Storms tried to fire, but never got going. We decided to head home right before sunset, when a storm managed to break through and go up like a mushroom cloud. We turned around and headed torward it. We got on the storm right after dark, and drove through the hook echo precip from the south to see a giant bell-shaped meso lit up by the lightning. We turned on a county road just as a tornado briefly dropped in the field right next to us. The tornado didn't last 30 seconds.

 

[John Wetter]

My Big Days:

May 22, 2007 & 2008 - The best tornadoes from both days happened only miles away from each other.

July 7, 2000 - This is more of a local event in MN but it did produce a few small tornadoes. We saw one tornado that was more of a cascading rain curtain kind of look to it.

 

[Danny Neal]

UPDATED 12/20 : 3:30 PM - I appreciate the responses. I read every single one and enjoy reading everyone's experiences (good or bad) Some of the newer members should check this thread out if for nothing else, a learning experience of what can happen when you accurately forecast and make smart decisions

 

[Jeff Passner]

Okay, I'm a "old" guy and I've chased some unusual events living in New Mexico.

My first tornado was May 30, 1982 near Mountain View, Oklahoma. That's how long I've been doing this.

My greatest regret --- April 26, 1991... I had a class that week and could not get away for Red Rock and the others that day. Just part of life... I pleaded with my boss, but I knew it was useless. Jobs are more important than storms...

My greatest event was actually a shocker --- August 31, 2008 just west of Las Cruces, New Mexico... Two supercells that produced cyclic tornadoes for 90 minutes in the summer monsoon. It happens.. I still can't get a good count of how many tornadoes there were. I've settled on eight but it could be 11. It went on and on like a machine, although much of it occurred after dark. I learned a lot about vorticity that night.

Otherwise, in the Plains... Too many to really choose from, but I consider June 6, 1989 near Plainview, Texas to be one of my greats. I learned so much that day. It was not anything more than an F2-F3 tornado but that day I learned how to chase storms.

"Greatest" and "best" is different to everyone. To me, the greatest is when you see something different and learn something new. So that's why I'd pick August 31, 2008 in the monsoon and June 6 at Plainview as the greatest in my career. Hopefully there will be many more.... As some say, size does not matter!!

 

[jeremy wilson]

May 29 2004. My first real chase with zero data of any kind. Just visual and instinct. Caught around 6 naders that day and became really good friends with my current chase partner Aarron Hughes.

 

[Brandon Ivey]

I will also vote for May 29th, 2004. So many tornadoes that day. Many of them were highly photogenic. The storm moved along at a crawl (lawn chair chase). Large cones and wedges occured without any major towns being hit. You really could not ask for more!

 

[Danny Neal]

UPDATED DECEMBER 23RD, 2008 - 2:30 PM


May 29th, 2004 takes a lead and not surprisingly since it was a wild day from Nebraska to Oklahoma.

 

[John Farley]

1. June 4, 2008, Danvers, IL - a slow-moving tornado that evolved from stovepipe to multiple vortex, that I watched for 20 minutes and only had to move once.

2. April 11, 2007, east of Terre Haute, IN - no tornado, but the most spectacular cloud rotation I have ever seen.

3. Twelve years ago yesterday - yes, DECEMBER 23, 1996, Evansville, IL - my first chase tornado (which I almost accidentally drove into!!!), and golfball hail.

4. May 29, 2004, on the Oklahoma end of things - massive HP supercell, 5-inch hail, and anticyclonic rotation and likely tornado.

5. April 15, 1998, Red Bud, IL - another mean HP supercell and a tornado.