Thoughts about Chasing in 2010, and personal decisions.

[Jeff Miller]

I am totally in love with the weather, as so many of you are here.

Yesterday, I had what I thought was a fantastic chase. Myself and my chase partner successfully targeted Chamberlain, South Dakota and headed north and caught a fantastic storm complete with funnels, wall clouds, beautiful structure, inflow, and even a possible tornado. I was very satisfied with this chase, as well was my chase partner. Driving home, I was able to take in beautiful lightning from other night-based tornado and severe warned calls, and have an awesome amount of photography that I have posted on my facebook account of this chase.

This chase is not unlike many others. I have never really posted chase accounts here, nor have I posted reports, usually. A lot of the time since I have been chasing on the plains since I moved here in 2001, I have attempted to keep a very low profile.

I didn't use a lot of data on this chase, and I usually don't. We brought a laptop, but didn't use it. (We tried once at the Rest Area in Chamberlain for kicks, but couldn't get any data anyway, so I said **** it. LOL) I opened my cell phone and only used that for general SPC updates on TOR watches and MD's. We saw the tornado warned supercell farther north, but because of data issues, and how far it was, we decided against pursuing it and hung farther Southwest.

We were rewarded with a beautiful supercell with all the features associated thereof, and only 1 other chaser was on it. We had the roads and fields to ourselves. The lack of chaser convergence and the solitude was absolutely amazing. The storm was beautiful. I'm not posting a full account here, that's not what this post is about.

I went home feeling really good about the chase. I wasn't hurried, wasn't in any convergence, had great storms and a good drive with good company.

Then, I got on Stormtrack. Immediately I saw what all the other chasers bagged with the tornado fest storm that I avoided farther north. I immediately felt I didn't "measure up" to the "other" chasers because I wasn't "on" the "big one" therefore missing the "big show" which took away my absolute enjoyment with the storm and made me instead feel dissapointed with myself, which is not needed or necessary.

I love chasing the old fashioned way. I love chasing without all the radars, and without a constant stream of data, and I love chasing without the convergence. The solitude was amazing, the storms were great, and only after getting plugged back in to the internet did I really feel dissapointed with myself. Knowing too much when chasing can sometimes not be a good thing.

Does chasing without all the data mean chasing's more dangerous? Hard call. Obviously, you have to use your senses and skill more, be much more observant to what is around you and developing in all directions. Heading home I was concerned about supercells to my south that were svr and tor warned, so I used the RADIO and listened to updates (again, no radar), so I took major roads east and avoided them to avoid hail cores and possible rotation. It worked, and I escaped the storms and arrived back safely. Hey, this is how it used to be done way back in the day.

And I've decided on a few things, and here they are:

• I am going to keep chasing the way I have been, without the data, even though I have the means to get the data. There's something exciting about chasing without all the techno stuff of today.
• All the techno stuff seems to be leading to convergence and issues. Chasing the old fashioned way seems to get you on different storms others miss and beautiful scenes and surprised, so you don't have the "everyone has this shot" shot that's just a repeat of what someone else got.
• I'm not going to check in and compare what I got to what others got. I felt great about my storm and my chase UNTIL I got online here and started comparing my results with others. I'm darn happy with my chase and my storm - and got views and pics that only, to my knowledge, one or two others got.
• I'm happy with structure. I could care less about the tornadoes, but I'm a storm chaser, not a tornado chaser. Maybe that makes me an odd duck in the storm chasing community, but I don't care.

The bottom line is, I'm not going to get trapped in the convergences, the hooplah, and the things that keep happening as a result of what has happened to chasing in 2010. I'm going to chase as data-free as possible,using my senses and instinct the best I can, I'll love the storms I catch and not compare them to others, and not get caught up in the big chaser community burnout and drama I keep reading about. I may not even read the reports section here anymore after the feelings I got reading what everyone *else* got and I "failed" to get - though I know that my chase WAS a success as a STORM chaser.

I see so many things happening with the chase community. People getting burned out. Rudeness, Sharpness, Accusations, Hurtful things, comparisons, and more and more and more. It's what happens when you get involved in a community of hundreds and thousands of people who have the same passion you have about something special - in our case, the weather. And to me, there's only one way to avoid it - and that's by going back to the roots of chasing.

I chase for thrill, yes. I love seeing severe weather - more than anything in the world. But I guess my biggest fear is that if I get too into the data, too into the community, too into the drama that I keep seeing, too into the business aspects, then I am afraid and afraid more that I am going to lose the passion for the very thing I love - severe weather - and it will be buried in the noise of the community - and I'll lose the noise of thunder, lightning, hail, and wind.

To me, this is the only way I can make sense of an increasingly dramatic and strange hobby that techno-chasing has become. I feel horrible that one very well known, respected, and passionate chaser threw the curtains down on his storm chasing business and apparently was burned out from chasing altogether now - and to me, that's so, so sad. I feel horrible that there's so much drama in the chase community - so much fingerpointing, so much rudeness and judgementalness and even arrogance - and I don't want any part of that, shoot, all I want is storms and storms and more storms!!!!!!! I just wonder if more feel that way.

Appreciate you all letting me rant. I just am afraid people are losing the passion for severe weather and tornadoes because it's all getting drowned out by the noise of the drama. Maybe I'm all wrong, I don't know - I just know how I personally feel. If you see me out there, I'll probably be on a different storm, all alone, by myself, and missing the big show, but strangely, that's how I want it right now. If that makes sense.

 

[Mike Moore]

Good post - thanks for taking the time to write it. Your style sounds a lot like mine. I usually chase storms to relax, and since my day job is stressful enough I try not to get all worked up. I always take a laptop with me, but unless I'm waiting around somewhere it's usually closed.

I sometimes get discouraged when I see a group of chasers waiting somewhere, and stopping to chat only results in the cold shoulder. The chasing community, and especially this forum can be extremely cliquish. Since I travel for a living I often times chase in a rental car (thank goodness for full coverage ). Chasing in an unmarked vehicle is just fine, until you try and chat with other chasers. Apparently to some the amount of antennas or flashing lights on your vehicle shows your experience level.

I've also noticed recently that more and more are eager to post videos of each other and criticize EVERYTHING other chasers do. People LOVE to post if you passed in a no passing zone, you parked on a field without permission, or maybe you cut me off on the way to here, or you drove too fast when going there. Sheesh. Some of these threads are WAY over the top with anger.

Ahh well.

I've got a big canvas print of "Wild Thing" by Warren Faidley in my living room that reminds me of the kind of storms I love to chase. Chasing for me is finding that perfect storm, at the perfect moment when the light and the action is just right.

 

[Jim Zandonai]

Nice post. For me I have been chasing since 80s before all the high tech stuff. Just a map and Wx radio. Worked great. I was the only one and of course all relatively local chases really. Now of course I have the laptop,radar software etc. My car isn't marked either except for a skywarn sticker. I prefer it that way too. People that know of me probably wonder when am going to chase. Well for me as of now they have to be day trips. My responsibilites here and working a stressful 40hrs/wk thats not always easy to get time off doesn't afford me the luxury to 500 mile trips. Wish it did. Living in N.IL however things usually do not get going until end of May or June anyway.
Most of my chases are geared toward spotting/reporting and photography of storm structure and chase/event reports and of course because I enjoy it. I wish I could interact more with everyone and perhaps if something happens around here I can. It's kind of a bummer seeing everyone on great storms too and I am stuck here armchairing but we'll see what the season brings here this year. I do admire though everyones genreral passion though and I have all the passion just not the means of traveling really long distances at this time due to the aforementioned reason..So the main thing is do what you love to do and do it your way.

 

[Jeff Hawkins]

I'm newer to chasing, and while watching the recent threads about convergence and techno, I have also been (in the back of my head) thinking about why I chase. Is it to go where everyone else goes? Is it following the crowd? Am I a lemming or not?
You've reminded me that what *I* chase for isn't the 'best target', which it seems many do go for. Instead, I chase for *MY* best target, regardless of whether others think it's that or not. Sometimes the forecast is accurate, sometimes not. It's *weather*!!! Even yesterdays chase in SD had the NWS forecasting the highest chance of severe weather in SE South Dakota (for 2 or 3 days prior), when in reality it was in North Central SD instead.
As far as technology goes, IMHO it's just tools...things to use to help you make choices. It should never replace your brain's ability to make judgements about situations (that goes for GPS systems too...as shown in another thread).

 

[Jeff Hawkins]

I sometimes get discouraged when I see a group of chasers waiting somewhere, and stopping to chat only results in the cold shoulder. The chasing community, and especially this forum can be extremely cliquish. Since I travel for a living I often times chase in a rental car (thank goodness for full coverage ). Chasing in an unmarked vehicle is just fine, until you try and chat with other chasers. Apparently to some the amount of antennas or flashing lights on your vehicle shows your experience level.

Hi Mike,
I thought I'd respond to this portion of your post, although you touch on some other chaser community issues too.

I HOPE that the experiences you've had trying to chat with other chasers has been the exception, rather than the norm.
I myself have chased solo for the most part so far, but while on a storm have taken the time to stop and chat with other cars stopped along the roadside. Not all have been real chasers per-se, more often they are meteorology students connected with colleges/universities. They have generally been friendly at a minimum, and even willing to share their data/insight into what I'm chasing. I haven't found these particular groups to be cold-shouldered or clique-ish. Perhaps it's because they're students.

I have also had contact with several ST members here, who have generally been willing to chat and allow me to join them on chases.

I don't share that do discount what you are pointing out. To the contrary, I would strongly criticize any ST members here who would shun or exclude another ST member (if they've identified themselves as such) who's seriously pursuing the knowledge/discipline of storm chasing. I thought that's what this website/community is, at least in part, for..community/partnership/sharing...and God forbid...friendship...in the hobby of storm chasing.

 

[Doug Ott]

All great posts in here. I am pretty green when it comes to chasing. I have laptop with me, no toothpicks sticking up from my pickup. I have no added software on this computer. At this point I don t ever intend on buying any. I chase on occasion without my computer. I ll admit it s all because I see something blow up while I am doing field work, and I just leave the field and drive for towers. So often when I do carry radar with me, I can t use it very well. I have found it impossible to watch a storm, radar, and the road. Having this computer is nice though when sitting in a town waiting on storms, because I can play games on the internet to pass the time. In my few years that I have been doing more chasing, I am finding that really having this radar isn t really helping me much. It s usually behind in time, sometime 15-20 minutes. I lose signal, and I get frusturated. I chased NW Kansas today, and I targeted the Philipsburg area. It was nice having this while sitting there, so I could peek in at the SPC, and meso page. Did it help me. Not a bit. I could tell that the dewpoints were low at 4 in the afternoon. I just had to step out my pickup to figure that out. I could see that moisture was advecting. I knew in the morning where the boundry was going to set up at. I did end up driving down to Hoxie just to see what conditions were like there. Oh and the storm coming out of Garden City. I could see that from where I was at. I suppose in a way this radar is blanket for me, and it really shouldn t be.

Jeff and Mike, I too am in love with chasing. I too love the the structure of the storm. I chased that Aurora tornado last with very little radar. I was doing field work that day and watched that tower explode from 60 miles away. Went into my house and peeked at the radar, and grabbed my computer. I looked at a radar only one other time during my trip just to see if that storm turned east, so I could make a decision on turning nth or continuing east. When I seen it turned east I never looked at my radar again. I had a radio giving weather alerts and knew where the storm was the whole time. I stuck mostly to gravel roads that day. So, never encountered the line of cars on 34 by Aurora. Had found nice gravel road all to myself (one other chaser come to think of it), and visited little with him and we went our seperate ways. 2 miles from that storm when it touched down, I got me a beautiful structure shot. Never would have experienced that from 100 yards away. I ve chased storms before with other chasers out there. I have followed them before, only because we were chasing the same storm. I have seen them turn off on a road, and then when viewing the storm ten miles up the road, I ve seen them fly by on the highway. I am the type I just go with what I know, and my gut. If I bust as result, I bust as a result. If a person does follow other chasers, how are you to know if they know more than you do. You can t. Unless you know them personally. What happens if they know less than you?

Today, I watched towers go up and dry up, down my Hoxie. Drove west to cut off the storm tor warned. Guess what I lost signal on my computer on the way to the storm. So, radar never really helped me with that. Arrived little late and watched the wall cloud fizzle out. The more I have been using it the more unreliable I have been finding it to be. Will I leave my laptop at home during chases. NO! I need my games to play, when I am waiting around. It is also nice to be able to peek in on SPC, and see what they are talking about. I have actually experienced some of my chases, when I have looked outside to see TCU going up and driving for them, and chasing them. I feel that I have taken more pride in chasing storms when not using a radar. One other thing I have learned. With having my verizon signal cut out in areas, I am studying more, and learning more what to look for from the skies. Why? My computer is unreliable in areas. After all it is the skies that yield the storms. Through my studying I am learning lot bout reading the skies. Not having much experience chasing, I have decided to sit the Mach 1 storms out. I just can t do it successfully, and on 5/10 I made some poor driving conditions that day. You know what, I continued reminding myself today that I was not going to do that again. I could have passed two cars on a highway today, and drove 85-90 to the storm. I just couldn t do that, so I followed an older couple doing 70 in a 65. Would it have got me to that storm from where I was. Well, I got to it doing 70. Would I have seen a tornado. No. It died out, before I would gotten to it anyways, even had I drove 80.

I hope that I am not looked down upon for using a radar. I have seen on many other posts that if you need to rely on it, you shouldn t be chasing. Well, for me who studies in the off season, and during season (when I have time), I need to be out there to learn. You can read a book on how to plant corn, and learn how to plant corn. If you never put the corn in the ground, and apply what you ve learned, you ll never grow that corn. Anyways, sorry I got little long winded. Just some my thoughts that came to mind, when I read all your posts.

 

[Joshua Nall]

Whoa there now.... I'm not giving up my radar. That's fine for you plains guys where you can see a couple miles and often times storms fire up under blue skies. Around here big events are accompanied by low clouds and even fog...

I can't imagine my love of severe weather ever waning. I've never chased like some do... but I started doing things differently when I ran through a fence 3 years ago. After all the garbage that has gone on this year I'll probably do things even more differently. But my love for it will never change.

I was thinking just the other day when someone on here said... "I hate hail"... I was thinking man I would probably do what I do just for the hail. Last week I started fabricating a roof rack, that will at least keep the front and back windows safe. I've always wanted one anyway for my work and I can throw things up there when I go camping. Their great for an elevated platform to watch any sort of event from also, throw some chairs up there.. will sleep up there when camping.

There's been some talk on here also about spotter network icons.... I've never even looked at the site when chasing... but I'm thinking it may be a good way to stay out of the way of the masses. I don't want to be a part of the circus under the meso... unless it just happens to pass by me... If I see it coming though, I'll be dropping south a mile, or head into the core

 

[JamesCaruso]

Jeff,

I really liked your post. I feel the same way lots of times - had fun during the chase, feel good about it, but the feeling is short-lived once I find out what I missed. It's not about competition with other chasers and what they saw that I didn't; it's just about getting down on myself for erroneous forecasts and/or field decisions.

The plethora of data available - not just the real-time radar and such, but also everything that's available on the web for observations, models, etc. - can be overwhelming because you never know how much is "enough." There is always more that can be looked at, leading to analysis paralysis. There was less stress in the past when you made a decision and had to stick with it, for better or for worse.

This phenomenon has extended even to the decision of when to head out to the Plains to start my chase vacation. The last two years I've had some flexibility and tried to hit a good pattern, leading to a rollercoaster ride of excitement vs. disappointment, preparation vs. delay, weighing a ton of variables between chasing vs. work vs. personal vs. family commitments, for weeks leading up to departure. In the past, sure, there were unproductive weeks spent under a death ridge, but I picked my vacation months ahead of time and that was that.

No answers here. Just commiserating. It's all a balance and what makes chasing interesting. How we handle these conflicts is ultimately part of the way we challenge ourselves, and I think one thing we all have in common as chasers is the desire to challenge ourselves.

Jim Caruso

 

[Karen St John]

Sometimes, what one may miss is not the destination...but the journey?

To whit...I live in Michigan. Not exactly tornado alley, though we do get them, and with some frequency. Even some famous big storms. I grew up in Wisconsin, where more tornadoes occur, and have plenty of family in Iowa, where they definitely occur.

Right now, I am in the process of teaching myself about something I love: weather. I love stormy skies in the day, and clear ones at night, if I can get away from the lights of the Detroit metropolitan area. Honestly, I am enjoying the learning, and I hope I never lose that.

Having chased down some of my own personal storms, I turn to the sky now for learning, recapturing something I gave up years ago for reasons I really can't remember, or likely will understand if I do.

My signature says it all, though I probably could work on the shutting up part a bit harder. I hope that even when I have become competent, I never lose the awe I feel now.

My chasing moments come from standing under a rotating cloud structure that went tornado warned while I was waiting for my car to be fixed. I was on crutches, and my mom, with whom I was shopping that day, had a conniption fit that I can still replay very vividly! Likewise, I've gone to the window countless times, and driven to a number of storm scenes.

Heavens, I followed around some gorgeous cumulus clouds the other day, not because I thought they’d fire, but just because I wanted to watch them to see what they were going to do.

Of late, I have been deciding on meteorology programs, just because my two degrees in history equal a job with FedEx. And I have always wanted to do one!

My signature says it all, though I probably could work on the shutting part a bit harder. I hope that even when I have become competent, I never lose the awe I feel now.

If using pen and paper bring you awe, I think that's marvellous! If radar brings you to your wonderment, I think you should keep your eye on it!

Personally, I want to know how to do both, and be amazed while I learn!

Oh, and Jeff, if your post can make me think of these things at 0145, you've done something pretty amazing right there. Thank you!!!

As my signature still says...