StormChaseGame.Com

[Taylor Campbell]

Hi y'all. I thought it would be fun to have a simple, yet exciting storm chase game this season.
You can sign up at stormchasegame.com. We've had several register, and would like a lot more.

Welcome to the home of the Storm Chase Game. You are a storm chaser and with that your job is to position yourself in a place where you can video, and photograph severe weather. To do so, you’ll need to decide on a “target area” where you think there is the best chance for tornadoes, hail, or damaging winds. This should be done before 1200z on the day of the chase (click this link for help on Zulu time). You will submit this “target area” (either a city or latitude/longitude coordinate) in the “entry” form. There are no restrictions on how many times you change your location prior to 12z. Only when the clock hits 1200z will scoring begin, and then that you are no longer allowed to enter or move locations. At the end of the day, SPC storm reports, NWS damage surveys, maps, and calculators will be used to verify and tally points earned. One hail or damaging wind report regardless of how near or far it falls in a 50 mile radius from your spot gets you 10 points. However, the closer tornadoes are reported to your target area, the more points you will earn. A tornado report within 25-50 miles is worth 15 points, 24-11 gets you 20 points, and anything less than 10 miles is 25 points. Reports outside the scope of these miles will not count. You can chase at anytime, but be careful because if there are no reports within your target area on that day, 10 points will be deducted. Also be mindful, that there will always be a chase day when the Storm Prediction Center issues a Day 2 moderate and/or high risk. You can follow SPC outlooks at this site. Occasionally, there will be XP rewards that can double, or even triple your points. It is important that you check your e-mail for these notifications. This game will be held from March 1st to May 31st and is expected to be a fun, and exciting competition during the severe weather season. Please, sign up <strike>before registration ends on February 28th at 12:00 PM.</strike>

Registration is open throughout the entire season. There's no deadline to register.

 

[Matt Hunt]

So it's only for moderate and high risk days?

 

[Taylor Campbell]

So it's only for moderate and high risk days?

No, you can chase any day from March 1st to May 31st. So even if the SPC doesn't have a slight risk out you can chase. But, moderate and high risk days will always be XP chase days. If you don't chase on those days then you miss out on XP. It will never be rewarded on slight risk or less risk days.

 

[Matt Hunt]

Oh, I gotcha! Sounds fun! Should be good practice on days I'm unable to chase!

I do have a suggestion, however... move the target deadline back to at least 16z. There are many times where the target depends heavily on the result of overnight convection, boundaries, and whether or not there's clearing. I never really have a target nailed down until after the 12z model runs.

 

[Jared Orr]

Oh, I gotcha! Sounds fun! Should be good practice on days I'm unable to chase!

I do have a suggestion, however... move the target deadline back to at least 16z. There are many times where the target depends heavily on the result of overnight convection, boundaries, and whether or not there's clearing. I never really have a target nailed down until after the 12z model runs.

I second that request.

 

[Taylor Campbell]

Oh, I gotcha! Sounds fun! Should be good practice on days I'm unable to chase!

I do have a suggestion, however... move the target deadline back to at least 16z. There are many times where the target depends heavily on the result of overnight convection, boundaries, and whether or not there's clearing. I never really have a target nailed down until after the 12z model runs.

I was actually thinking about moving it up before you can see the Day 1 Outlook for tornado, wind, and hail probs. This would be done to increase forecasting difficulty. I hope that's alright with you.

 

[Taylor Campbell]

A few things I wanted to let y'all know.
I've extended the deadline to sign up till March 7th @ 12 PM.
And for those who have signed up, I just e-mailed you your confirmation code.
The entry form is now available at the bottom of the Forecast Desk page.

 

[Jared Orr]

I'm excited to get started! Thanks for all the hard work making this!

 

[chrisbray]

No, you can chase any day from March 1st to May 31st. So even if the SPC doesn't have a slight risk out you can chase. But, moderate and high risk days will always be XP chase days. If you don't chase on those days then you miss out on XP. It will never be rewarded on slight risk or less risk days.

So wait, you get nothing for playing slight risk days?

I would think you should be able to get like a bonus if you pick out a target area for a slight risk day that hits the jackpot

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Yeah, I think you should get more points if you score on a See Text day. But I will join, this sounds fun.

 

[Taylor Campbell]

I'm excited to get started! Thanks for all the hard work making this!

Thanks for the kind words!

So wait, you get nothing for playing slight risk days?

I would think you should be able to get like a bonus if you pick out a target area for a slight risk day that hits the jackpot

You can still get points on slight risk, or see text days. There really isn't anything different. I'm rewarding XP only on moderate/high risk days because I want most of you chasing on that day. Point reduction is also a possibility on those days, but instead of the -10 on less risk days it will be doubled or tripled, etc.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

Wait, even more deducted on lower risk? I think it should be the other way around. Missing out on MDT or HIGH days should be harder to do.

 

[Taylor Campbell]

Wait, even more deducted on lower risk? I think it should be the other way around. Missing out on MDT or HIGH days should be harder to do.

I'm rewarding XP only on moderate/high risk days because I want most of you chasing on that day. Point reduction is also a possibility on those days, but instead of the -10 on less risk days it will be doubled or tripled, etc.

That's the way I have it. So if you miss getting a report on a 3X XP moderate/or high risk day then you get 30 points deducted. The lower risk days are always -10.

 

[chrisbray]

I signed up, looking forward to fun and learning!

 

[Taylor Campbell]

Oh, I gotcha! Sounds fun! Should be good practice on days I'm unable to chase!

I do have a suggestion, however... move the target deadline back to at least 16z. There are many times where the target depends heavily on the result of overnight convection, boundaries, and whether or not there's clearing. I never really have a target nailed down until after the 12z model runs.

After thinking on it longer, I believe I've found a way to accommodate this request. I added something called a "grace period". Basically it is just an extended amount of time between 0530z and 1600z that you can cancel your chase entries.