Top 10 chase days of 2011

[Brett Roberts]

Ranking a year's chase days is something I've thought about in the past, and have even discussed with chaser friends before, but I'm not sure I've seen it done here. So, why not?

Here's how I envision this working:

• You can rank your top 10 using whatever criteria you like, but keep in mind that my intention is to make this about the top days that the season offered up, as opposed to your personal best chase days. For example, I didn't even leave home on my #1-ranked day.
• Discussion is encouraged, but please make sure to bold your list, so as to make it easily distinguishable when scrolling through the thread. (Also, there's no need to list locations and link to reports threads for each day like I did, unless you want to).
• Lists, including mine, may be revised as additional dates are brought up in the discussion that we may have overlooked.
• Depending on how many responses there are, it might be fun to calculate some sort of composite ranking, though I haven't decided exactly how yet.

So, without further ado, my preliminary list looks something like...

01. April 27 (Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, Hackleburg-Harvest AL, Philadelphia MS, etc.)
02. May 24 (Canton, Lookeba, El Reno, Chickasha, Goldsby, Shawnee)
03. June 20 (Hill City-Norton KS, Kearney Co. NE, Bradshaw NE, etc.)
04. November 7 (Tipton, Manitou-Snyder, WMWR, Ft. Cobb)
05. May 22 (Joplin, Grove OK, IA/MN, etc.)
06. May 21 (Sulphur-Hickory OK, Ada OK, Reading KS, Topeka, etc.)
07. April 19 (Litchfield IL, Girard IL, etc.)
08. April 26 (Ben Wheeler TX, Gun Barrel City TX, Mabank TX, etc.)
09. April 9 (Mapleton IA, Sac City IA, etc.)
10. April 14 (Tushka OK, Okmulgee OK, Burbank OK, etc.)

 

[Skip Talbot]

Good idea, Brett. These are pretty tough to rank I think. I think you got all the big days there. Ranking the day by how accessible tornadoes were to chasers and how photogenic they were, I might change up the order a little bit:


01. May 24 (Canton, Lookeba, El Reno, Chickasha, Goldsby, Shawnee)
There were a lot of storms to pick from this day, and it wasn't hard to pick the wrong target. However, many supercells did produce multiple tornadoes, across a broad region, with some of the most photogenic catches of the year including dramatic wedges, and dazzlingly lit ropes. Despite the amount of cells relative to the number of tornadoes, where large parts of a rather solid looking line didn't produce, the number of tornadoes that were generated, their photogenic properties, and their location in many chaser's backyards, puts this event at the top of 2011.

02. June 20 (Hill City-Norton KS, Kearney Co. NE, Bradshaw NE, etc.)
There were several opportunities to get a very photogenic tornado on this day. Several supercells produced multiple tornadoes, and many of those were dramatic, high contrast, slow moving and over open terrain with nice road grid of central NE. This was the chase of the year for many, and maybe a career day for some.

03. November 7 (Tipton, Manitou-Snyder, WMWR, Ft. Cobb)
There was essentially one storm to be on this day, but boy did it produce a nice array of tornadoes.

04. July 16 (North Dakota)
July what? Not many folks out on this slight risk day in the far northern plains and the middle of summer. There were a series of extremely photogenic tornadoes of various shapes and sizes over the gorgeous open terrain of North Dakota. If you positioned yourself well on this day, you probably could have gotten some photos and video to rival anything else that came out of 2011, and you would have probably been the only chaser around. Roger Hill and a handful of chasers were the only ones out on this sleeper day that paid off big.

05. April 27 (Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, Hackleburg-Harvest AL, Philadelphia MS, etc.)
This day needs more discussion about why its not at the top of the list, than why its on the list. While April 27 will go down in the history books as a top event in many categories, it has several strikes against it for making it an ideal chase setup. Like many high risks, this day featured a barrage of tornadoes and extremely fast storm speeds. Many chasers got only glimpses of violent tornadoes from a few miles out, between gaps in the trees, before they rocketed away at 60+ mph. The terrain and road network did not yield to easy, relaxed intercepts and actually made this chase quite dangerous. Thick tree cover and violent, extremely fast moving tornadoes gave little visual warning to those in the path. Some of the most dramatic tornado footage ever came out of this event, but most of it comes from locals in extremely dangerous positions. Despite the epic number and size of tornadoes in this event, the horrific loss of life, massive devastation, inability for many chasers to get out due to power outages and debris strewn roads, and the stress of chasing a fast moving outbreak in bad terrain, tarnished this event from a chase-ability standpoint.

06. May 22 (Joplin, Grove OK, IA/MN, etc.)
I'd argue that Joplin wasn't the most ideal chase catch either. Again the devastation and loss of life of a violent, wedge tornado rolling through a city is heart wrenching. There were several other supercells that produced photogenic tornadoes over open terrain in OK, MO, and IA, however. Many chasers had great catches without the heartache of witnessing the Joplin destruction firsthand.

07. May 21 (Sulphur-Hickory OK, Ada OK, Reading KS, Topeka, etc.)
Lots of amazing supercell structure and a decent array of tornadoes to go around from several supercells.

08. April 19 (Litchfield IL, Girard IL, etc.)
Bowling Green, MO was probably the catch of the day on April 19 as a high contrast tornado out in clear air. Litchfield and Girard were quite dramatic as well.

09. April 9 (Mapleton IA, Sac City IA, etc.)
I'm going bump Mapleton up a position here. While a tragedy that the town got hit, thankfully there were no fatalities, and the tornado was quite dramatic. The gustnado and RFD action before the tornado is certainly noteworthy. The array of nocturnal tornadoes that followed Mapleton was incredible, with numerous tubes of all shapes and sizes. Many chasers got very dramatic views of these tornadoes, backlit by lightning. Had they occurred during the day, this chase would easily be in the top 5.

There were several days that yielded a photogenic tornado if you picked the right storm. These days get harder to rank so I'd say there is a bit of a tie for 10th place:

10. April 26 (Ben Wheeler TX, Gun Barrel City TX, Mabank TX, etc.)

10. April 14 (Tushka OK, Okmulgee OK, Burbank OK, etc.)

10. March 22 (Creston, IA)

10. August 11 (Wood Lake, NE)

 

[Doug Drace]

Using the same basic rating principles as Skip, with my biggest exception being April 27th. Although I completely agree about the chasability being poor in many regards, the historic day this turned out to be makes it impossible IMO to rank it any lower than #2 on my list. Even with the difficult terrain/storm motions, there were still a lot of chasers who got mind blowing video of several significant tornadoes. While also incredibly historic/tragic, I have May 22nd, Joplin, MO much further down the list mainly because of the very poor visibility of the tornado from virtually every chase report/video clip I have seen due to the HP nature of the storm. If not for that I would likely make it my #1...

* = Days I actually chased

01. May 24 (Canton, Lookeba, El Reno, Chickasha, Goldsby, Shawnee)*
02. April 27 (Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, Hackleburg-Harvest AL, Philadelphia MS, etc.)
03. November 7 (Tipton, Manitou-Snyder, WMWR, Ft. Cobb)*
04. April 14 (Tushka OK, Okmulgee OK, Burbank OK, etc.)*
05. June 20 (Hill City-Norton KS, Kearney Co. NE, Bradshaw NE, etc.)
06. April 26 (Ben Wheeler TX, Gun Barrel City TX, Mabank TX, etc.)*
07. May 21 (Sulphur-Hickory OK, Ada OK, Reading KS, Topeka, etc.)*
08. May 22 (Joplin, Grove OK, IA/MN, etc.)
09. April 9 (Mapleton IA, Sac City IA, etc.)
10. April 19 (Litchfield IL, Girard IL, etc.)

 

[Brett Roberts]

Interesting thoughts on 4/27 so far. After thinking about what you wrote, Skip, I may have put too much weight into locals' and towercam video shots, letting the dozens of jaw-dropping clips from those sources skew my perception of the "chase" day. Even so, I think I'm going to leave it in the top spot, for now. The number and quality of photogenic, violent tornadoes that were intercepted by at least one chaser certainly exceeds that on any other day, including 5/24. Tuscaloosa produced my all-around favorite collection of tornado video of the new millennium so far (probably second only to Andover in modern history), and several others in E MS/W AL were nearly clones of it.

Those who know me will tell you that I'm the biggest stickler there is about chase terrain. A 5% tornado day in the TX Panhandle might well keep me up the night before with excitement, while a 15% hatched in SE KS or SW MO will have me questioning whether I should bother leaving home the morning of. I've never chased E of the MS River (other than very briefly on Super Tuesday 2008), and didn't seriously consider chasing 4/27, even though it turned out I couldn't anyway. Looking back, it was a grueling mistake for myself and everyone else who wrote the chase opportunity off solely due to location. In a matter of six hours, every stereotype about rain-wrapped tornadoes and no visible storm structure in the Southeast was shattered, and shattered more times than one could count... Cullman, Philadelphia, Scooba, Hackleburg, Tuscaloosa, Empire... even Bill Hark's surreal Beloit-esque shot from central VA. While the poor road network, terrain, and fast storm motion were all legitimate issues that kept many chasers from getting top-notch footage, the ceiling of opportunity if you went out in AL or E MS that day was as high as it gets... ever. May 24 was probably a bit more of a "safe bet" to see something spectacular without as many obstacles, though.

 

[Jeff Duda]

I used the following criteria to pick and rate the 10 best chase days of 2011:
-Occurrence of tornadoes, good structure (documented IRL or on radar), areal coverage, and storm mode
-Location (terrain and roads)
-How well documented the event was

Given the above, here's my list (underlined events are those that I'm sure belong where they are...I would be open to switching the other events one or two spots in either direction):
1. May 24
You can't argue with a high risk smack dab in the middle of the central Plains with dozens of tornadoes, including violent class, long tracked tornadoes. Even though I busted horribly on this day, these are the days that traditional tornado alley chasers dream for.
2. June 20
Good structure with strong tornadoes from multiple storms in an awesome road network. Well documented as well.
3. May 22
Widespread event to make everyone happy; most of the event occurred in good terrain areas. Generally isolated cells. Of course, containing a top-end tornado. These days please just about everyone in the middle of the country.
4. April 9
An unusual, but very rewarding event for those who took the risk; isolated, long lived supercell dominated the event with a picturesque tornado hitting a town; storm mode persisted long after dark and continued producing unabated by a strong cap.
5. November 7
Somewhat isolated, but in good terrain and road network; long-lived isolated supercells; well documented.
6. May 21
Widespread event, pleasing many; several good looking supercells (on radar); very rewarding for those who went out.
7. June 19
Amazing structure in Nebraska; conga line of supercells in NE/IA/MO, although after sunset; probably the weakest tornado day out of my top 10, but among the best structure day, and in good terrain
8. April 27
Overwhelmingly powerful and dense coverage of tornadoes, many strong and violent, and many long-lived supercells with long-tracked tornadoes; terrain and road network pretty poor compared to the Plains, however; many chasers had problems documenting this event; despite the power, density, coverage, and mode, and despite the good visibility of the storms, the chaseability really hurts this event in terms of top 10 chases.
9. April 14
A pretty big tornado day, but in shaky terrain close to the Plains; some strong tornadoes that were reasonably well documented (although some tornadoes were not well documented); dreamy setup, though...would've been top 5 if it occurred 100-150 miles farther west...great storm mode, too.
10. March 22
A localized event, but very rewarding for those who chased it; good storm mode in good chase terrain; reasonably well documented.

Honorable mentions:
-April 3 (widespread event with good coverage, but no tornadoes)
-April 15, 16, 25, 26 (strong tornadoes, long-lived supercells, good storm mode, and lots of tornadoes, but in poor terrain/road networks or after dark)
-April 19 (some well documented tornadoes, but crappy storm mode and no structure shots...also some parts of it in bad terrain)

 

[Jeff Duda]

Interesting thoughts on 4/27 so far. After thinking about what you wrote, Skip, I may have put too much weight into locals' and towercam video shots, letting the dozens of jaw-dropping clips from those sources skew my perception of the "chase" day. Even so, I think I'm going to leave it in the top spot, for now. The number and quality of photogenic, violent tornadoes that were intercepted by at least one chaser certainly exceeds that on any other day, including 5/24. Tuscaloosa produced my all-around favorite collection of tornado video of the new millennium so far (probably second only to Andover in modern history), and several others in E MS/W AL were nearly clones of it.

Those who know me will tell you that I'm the biggest stickler there is about chase terrain. A 5% tornado day in the TX Panhandle might well keep me up the night before with excitement, while a 15% hatched in SE KS or SW MO will have me questioning whether I should bother leaving home the morning of. I've never chased E of the MS River (other than very briefly on Super Tuesday 2008), and didn't seriously consider chasing 4/27, even though it turned out I couldn't anyway. Looking back, it was a grueling mistake for myself and everyone else who wrote the chase opportunity off solely due to location. In a matter of six hours, every stereotype about rain-wrapped tornadoes and no visible storm structure in the Southeast was shattered, and shattered more times than one could count... Cullman, Philadelphia, Scooba, Hackleburg, Tuscaloosa, Empire... even Bill Hark's surreal Beloit-esque shot from central VA. While the poor road network, terrain, and fast storm motion were all legitimate issues that kept many chasers from getting top-notch footage, the ceiling of opportunity if you went out in AL or E MS that day was as high as it gets... ever. May 24 was probably a bit more of a "safe bet" to see something spectacular without as many obstacles, though.

You'll notice I put April 27th way down on my list. The only way I would even chase an event like that would be if I lived in the area. Would you honestly enjoy driving overnight for 8 hours just to get in position for an event in which you would only get short glimpses at fast moving tornadoes? The visibility of the tornadoes from this day certainly helps its case as far as a good chaseable day, but the trees and the road network there are pretty poor from the maps I've seen (I've never actually been to MS/AL/GA, so I can't say I know for sure what it's like). This seemed to cause many chasers frustration in documenting these events. Also, you run the risk of getting hit by a tornado yourself that you don't see in time or can't get away from. You also run the risk of running across significant damage and/or casualties, which would stop most chasers dead in their tracks. Would you really enjoy an chase that featured you coming across dead bodies and so much destruction? I wouldn't.

 

[Rob H]

I'm going by quality and count of the tornadoes, accessibility to the storms, unique character, and some other intangibles like forecasting oddities. If I didn't write anything, I'm agreeing with the general consensus here and don't really have anything to add.

1. 6/20 NE/IA/KS - Fairly easy, but non-standard, forecast made it a little more fun. Also a little bonus for those playing in KS early in the day. It was possible to hop from storm to storm and get several nice tornadoes that day. My car broke down at initiation and I spent 2 hours in the shop. I still saw 3 tornadoes in NE, and a fourth while driving home through the line in IA - the day was just that eager to throw tubes at you.

2. 5/24 OK/KS - Big fat bust for me, but you can't deny this day a high ranking spot. The lack of anything really north of Canton was somewhat disappointing however.

3. 5/21 OK/KS - I'm trying not to be biased here because it was such a great day for me. You didn't need to pick a cell, you just had to sit on the dryline and wait all day long for the one cell to go up. Eventually a tower went up on an elevated ridge. Very thin needle tornadoes with some horizontal vortices in Sulphur. Later, in Hickory it dropped some classic cones. Before this cell got gobbled up by the cell to the north, it was producing stovepipe/rope/stovepipe out in the middle of an empty field with some rainbows. The structure of the Ada cell was amazing, and the tornado was backlit by a gorgeous sunset. Seriously, look at Melanie Metz's pictures of this day and be prepared to drool. Barely any chasers out!

4. 4/9 IA - A few big tornadoes and a double all in a relatively small area with great road network. If this would have occurred during the day, it could have been #1 or #2. Hop on a tornado-producing cell and stick with it for a few hours - whee!

5. 11/7 OK

6. 5/22
7. 7/16 ND
8. 4/19 IL
9. 6/19 CO/NE
10. 4/27 - Huge day, but storm speed, chase terrain, and being in the "wrong" part of the country really hurt this day. So much of the amazing footage was from really dumb people getting video from their iPhone when they should have been taking shelter.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Looking back, it was a grueling mistake for myself and everyone else who wrote the chase opportunity off solely due to location.

Even in hindsight, knowing the potential that was there, I'm still very conflicted about whether I'd chase this event. Of course, if I knew the best and safest place to be to get the perfect shot, I'd certainly show up with my tripod. However, knowing how it went down for most chasers, I doubt I'd make the trip down there. I've read several chase logs from the day, and to be honest some of them are little scary. I asked a few who saw tornadoes that day whether they'd repeat the chase as it happened. Some said yes, and some said no.

Going into the event, I assumed it might be something along the lines of a Yazoo City type event. Even if I could get the best position on the Yazoo City storm, I still wouldn't chase that storm. There was just no view on that tornado. Obviously there were amazing views on the 4/27 tornadoes, but a lot of chasers did not get these views. Skimming the 4/27 Reports many of the tornado shots are less than spectacular. Yeah, I could have justified the chase with a shot of a tornado, but is it really worth it to me to make the 10 hour drive for a fleeting glimpse of a distant, dark grey on grey tornado? No. Is it worth it to me to potentially compromise safety to get a more dramatic view? Absolutely no. Throw in the specter of having to cross horrific damage paths and comprehending the loss of life the event created, and getting that dramatic shot seems even less appealing.

I had a few close calls with some F0's this year, trying to get the shot in areas with compromised visibility:
http://skip.cc/chase/110521/11052118.jpg
Thinking about that being an F5 instead of an F0 and it coming over the tops of the trees at 60 mph instead of 30 mph makes my toes curl. There are some areas that just aren't worth chasing. The cost/risk to reward potential is just too low.

 

[Verne Carlson]

I would rank them in much the same order as everyone so far with heavy emphasis on chase terrain. I know there are some areas of the deep south that are flat and treeless but I've ventured into the jungles enough times to know that it is not pleasant and even though there were big tornado days I would not want to be there chasing unless I lived there.

Stars on the days I chased:

01. May 24 (Canton, Lookeba, El Reno, Chickasha, Goldsby, Shawnee)*
02. June 20 (Hill City-Norton KS, Kearney Co. NE, Bradshaw NE, etc.)
03. November 7 (Tipton, Manitou-Snyder, WMWR, Ft. Cobb)
04. April 14 (Tushka OK, Okmulgee OK, Burbank OK, etc.)*
05. May 22 (Joplin, Grove OK, IA/MN, etc.)
06. April 27 (Tuscaloosa-Birmingham, Hackleburg-Harvest AL, Philadelphia MS, etc.)
07. May 21 (Sulphur-Hickory OK, Ada OK, Reading KS, Topeka, etc.)
08. April 19 (Litchfield IL, Girard IL, etc.)
09. April 26 (Ben Wheeler TX, Gun Barrel City TX, Mabank TX, etc.)
10. April 9 (Mapleton IA, Sac City IA, etc.)

 

[Adam Lucio]

I'll play. My list will have similarities to others.

1. Without a doubt May 24th - This was your classic C OK Dryline setup, the kind where 90% of chasers get their dream setup in their backyard where they only have to drive an hour or less to the target area. Even if you were stuck at work all day you were still fortunate enough to catch later tornadoes. In a perfect world, all setups would be May 24th [not for me personally, but I am trying to see it from the majority's POV]

2. June 20th - Somewhat of a whacky setup, but the target area was small enough to make it a rather easy day in good terrain/road network. The cold core nature of the setup meant visibility in most storms was good.

3. November 7th - This was a very easy forecast, with a very small target area in mostly chase-able terrain. Even though only 1 storm produced, it did so for hour after hour with every type of tornado you can think of. As an added bonus it occurred well out of the range of peak season, offering a great cure for the wintertime SDS blues. Chase crowds were also kept to a minimum until everyone had enough time to converge on the storm, which was the ugly side of chasing a storm that was producing tornadoes for 3 straight hours.

4. May 21 - Anyday with a slow moving storm that drops classic tornadoes in OK ranks high on the list, just because it fits the classic stereotype. This day is no different, and even if you weren't on the Ada storm [as was my case] there were still tornadoes and good structure/hail to be had in other target areas as well.

5. April 27th - Despite the difficulties of the chase itself, you can't ignore how big this day was. There will probably be no greater/notorious event in all our chasing careers than this one here. This was a setup to put your skills to the test. They can't all be easy and convenient, and for me being able to track down a fast moving monster in difficult terrain is more rewarding than the ideal, much easier catch. The devastation was tough to bear, but being able to help out in small ways while down there was also rewarding. Those people need our help, and we should be there for them when we can. Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone.

[at this point it gets tough for me to rank days since the remaining events are all just one or two tornadoes in various locations, which offer extreme bias from all sides.]

6. April 19th - A tricky forecast in non traditional alley, but this chase produced some big, and very nice looking tornadoes for those who were able to play the day right. Good terrain and road network in IL is a bonus, and the Bowling Green, MO storm was pretty chaseable as well.

7. April 9th - Easy forecast, small target area, bad timing. This could have been a top day of the year had it happened during the day. If not for Jeff Gonzales' video I would still claim the Mapleton tornado was a gustnado on steroids. The tornadoes at night were spectacular, but one could make the same argument about catching climpses of tornadoes in the jungles of bad terrain to also viewing them at night while squinting in between lightning flashes. I saw 6 tornadoes this day/night, and have zero video thats worth a darn [I missed mapleton.]

8. July 16th - The day provided great results, though a difficult forecast and a location out of the range of most people made it not an ideal setup at all. There are similar setups just about every day in the summer, and there was nothing that made this one stand out on paper. If you were there its because you either lived nearby, ran a tour, or were one of those fortunate chasers who were born with the resources to simply just chase everything.

9. April 14th - Good setup, fairly easy forecast. Slightly off placed with storms that overall didn't deliver in a part of OK that resembles chasing in AL. The storms that did produce were very HP, there is a limited amount of decent chaser video out there. Nowhere near what you would expect from a potent setup in the heart of tornado alley though.

10. March 22nd - Decent early season setup with good supercells, slightly off placed from where most chasers would prefer chasing, but in an area that is chaseable with good terrain.

*edit* I just realized I forgot about May 22nd which you can lump somewhere between 6 and 10. The day was a very difficult chase and forecast over a huge target area that spanned every type of terrain there is, but at least offering something for just about every chaser in the country. Results were sub-par. There was Joplin which was similar to April 27th in the sense it was a big fast moving violent beast you could only catch a glimpse of. There were also several other tornadoes, though weaker and briefer but still photogenic.

 

[Brett Roberts]

Good stuff so far. The top few spots have been close to unanimous, but it's been interesting to read the rationale behind some larger differences between lists in positions 4-10.

We've got seven lists at this point, so if we can get three more, I'll do an average/composite ranking and see how things shake out.