Storm chasing in Ms and Ark

[Jonathan Williams]

How good are the roads to chase in Mississippi and Arkansas? Does anyone have any experience they can report about road conditions and the navigation part of it?

 

[Dennis Sherrod]

I can not speak too much about AR. But, MS is fair. The best part pf MS, as far as I my opinion goes, is NW MS along the river. There are only a very few bridge crossings into Eastern AR, yet the viewing is fairly good from Memphis down toward Greenville.

 

[Ronnie Bradley]

Anywhere east of the US 67-167 corridor and the I-530 / US 65 corridor would be a good area to chase. The terrain is relatively flat (save for Crowley's ridge), open farmland with grid-like roads. I'm familiar with US 64 from Bald Knob to Marion. There are some pesky windbreak tree areas but when you clear the windbreaks, its wide open viewing, just like out west. US 64 is a pretty good road. Mind the construction though as the road seems like it's constantly being upgraded (which it needs to be!). Also mind the speed traps on 64 as well. Parkin, Earle, and Marion are strict with speeders!
Down south of the US 64 corridor, I suspect the roads to be rather similar.

 

[Heidi Farrar]

Anywhere east of the US 67-167 corridor and the I-530 / US 65 corridor would be a good area to chase. The terrain is relatively flat (save for Crowley's ridge), open farmland with grid-like roads. I'm familiar with US 64 from Bald Knob to Marion. There are some pesky windbreak tree areas but when you clear the windbreaks, its wide open viewing, just like out west. US 64 is a pretty good road. Mind the construction though as the road seems like it's constantly being upgraded (which it needs to be!). Also mind the speed traps on 64 as well. Parkin, Earle, and Marion are strict with speeders!
Down south of the US 64 corridor, I suspect the roads to be rather similar.

What he said But, to take things a bit further, I'd like to add that anywhere else in the state of Arkansas (north of I-40, anyway) is pretty much like your worst nightmare, as far as terrain and roads are concerned.

 

[Terry Tyler]

answer your question?

naw, though...its not bad if you know the area, since im around here and know alot of the backroads and different areas around here its not that bad for me, but for someone who doesnt know the area, it can be pretty hard i guess...if you slip and and take just 1 wrong road, it could lead you to getting lost, and i mean really LOST...

as far as MS goes, your best bet is the major highways, 78 and 45 and 55 if your in eastern, MS...but that one, like most others has alot of trees...

one of the best spots there is for viewing storms in this state is on hwy 45 heading south towards west point...theres this town called egypt i pass when i go down to starkville, and i aint gonna lie to you...its almost like the plains for a good 20-30 miles...

some other good spots are near shannon, pontotoc and some spots near new albany...just places ive been and seen some good views...aside from that, you better get yourself up on a high spot, or find a highway overpass...otherwise your going to struggle to see anything, especially if that cloud cover rolls in...

 

[Jonathan Williams]

answer your question?

Yes, it does. I drove from Kentucky hoping to chase something and let me tell you it's bad in Mississippi. Everyone road seems to be landscaped by huge pine trees and you couldn't see anything. I was chasing two super cells yesterday and it was very hard to because of those pine trees. I would rather chase in Kentucky lol! Thanks for the picture and the information, I found at first hand it is hard to chase and it seemed like the roads were in bad condition? They don't black top either they use a different kind of pavement. Almost hydroplaned a few times because of water ponding. Called NWS and told them to issue a flash flood warning and they did, it was much needed.

 

[Terry Tyler]

They don't black top either they use a different kind of pavement.

yeah, i dont know what it is, but ill tell you this...ive been all over the country, but mississippis highways and roads are built a whole nother way then most other states road networks...i dont know what kind of man designed these roads, but i love the hell out em...

im gonna tell you right now, take the god damned natchez trace for an example...the road is almost blood-clay red...and the texture on your tires is real clean...not like those concrete highways you drive on...

there are crazy mergers and splits, and everything seems to "glide" around...especially if you ride the state highways and backroads...there are some places that are pure straightaways, and you can go flying if you know the place...some places are just windy and have blind curves and hills, like where i go around in the tom bigbee state park area, lake piomingo area, or places around unity, mantachie or whatever...you can find some crazy roads around there, and if you go too fast, and dont know the road, youll find yourself in a ditch in a hurry...

i usually "drive" the road, and most roads are best kept at a speed above the posted speed limit...you wont find many pigs out there, and if you do sometimes they dont care cause they know the road is a good road to drive on i guess...like highway 363, thats one of my favorite highways to ride...you can ball down there, ive gone over 100mph on some of those straightaways...

 

[David Schuttler]

What he said But, to take things a bit further, I'd like to add that anywhere else in the state of Arkansas (north of I-40, anyway) is pretty much like your worst nightmare, as far as terrain and roads are concerned.

I agree but I'll still always try when the opportunities arise
Here's an example of a Newton County highway in northern Arkansas