Turnpike Chasing; Uggh.

[Stephen Locke]

I chased in OKC area this week on 11/05/08. I was travelling east on John Kilpatrick Turnpike (Toll road) and attempted to exit north on I35 so I could position near Edmond for the cell that was moving that direction. As I am not from this area I did not realise the exit is left. As I attempted to change lanes a law enforcement vehicle was rapidly closing on my left. Rather than unsafely change lanes directly in his path I aborted the exit attempt. Now I find myself committed to the Turner Turnpike and a sign says next exit 22 miles! This means 44 miles to correct my mistake. Moreover I am losing 45 minutes of daylight which on this chase day there is precious little of. The chase ended up being a bust for me because I was either imprisoned on I44, searching my vehicle for exact change, or fighting rush hour traffic. I tried route 66 so I'd have better exit options but route 66 reminded me of chasing in Arkansas . . . tree lined and hilly, I never saw the horizon.

Driving back to KC next day I was thinking how, for me at least, terrain is my first priority. As a photographer I want an uncluttered view of the storm. Driving to KC I found myself cataloguing each county as good or bad chase country. One thing is for sure, I can't stand chasing in metro areas.
It is increasingly clear I'd rather chase a marginal storm in favourable terrain than a great storm in town or in crappy terrain.

I'd like to put this question to the group; What is your favourite chase area on the great plains. Use whatever criteria you personally enjoy. My criteria is in this order. 1st) terrain. 2nd) data coverage. 3rd) road network.

And one more question; For those of you who chase on the plethora of turnpikes in Oklahoma, do the authorities allow you to pull over and stop to observe a storm? And how do you deal with the lack of exit points.

 

[Danny Neal]

I can offer one solution when chasing the OK or KS turnpikes.....AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE! I love the US 54 corridor from Wichita to Dodge City. Flat terrain, good data coverage, and very good road network(if you don't mind dirt roads). Outside of the plains I have to vouch for Central IL. Cant beat it!

 

[Angie Norris]

Amen to what Danny said...avoid the turnpikes. There are some decent backroad options in the southern part of the I-44 corridor, though. You just have to keep an eye on your speedometer. Chasing east of I-35 is challenging to say the least...too many trees, and the roads don't always go the right places. My personal favorite area...TX Panhandle. There is absolutely no place like the Caprock. The road network is good and visibilty is awesome. The more I chase in KS, the more I'm really getting to like the US 54 corridor in southern KS as well.

 

[Shane Adams]

I'd like to put this question to the group; What is your favourite chase area on the great plains

SW Oklahoma and NC Oklahoma are probably my favorite pieces of land on the planet. Both offer views that can compete with anyplace in the Alley, and both are less than two hours from home. Naturally I am biased to OK because I'm from here.

 

[Aaron Gerhardt]

I gotta say, having to chase, check the GPS and see if and when a turn pike was coming up and where we could get off before having to commit to a long stretch on it was kinda frustrating. Definitely going to have to see some maps and lay out some routes for next year if Tim and I end up in the same type if situation you did.

Another issue with them, bathroom breaks. I found myself in a pretty rough situation about 30 miles from the next rest stop on the Kansas turnpike as we were going through The Flint Hills

 

[Jason Boggs]

As far as absolutely flat terrain with great road network....the area between Lubbock and Midland. Haven't tried the data coverage yet, but I'm sure its good.

 

[Jason Foster]

An old thread on the topic...will help

Here is an old thread that has some additional information....as I basically asked the same question awhile back.

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15470

It is always tough to decide were to go to chase. My thought is that I'll chase anywhere...but if given a choice on any particular day...I'll aim for the better terrain.

 

[Steve Miller TX]

As far as absolutely flat terrain with great road network....the area between Lubbock and Midland. Haven't tried the data coverage yet, but I'm sure its good.

That is God's gift to chasers. I mean, flat and treeless with raging supercells. What more could you ask for? Road network is great with many dirt roads in a large grid pattern..as long as they aren't muddy. Even then, give them a day and they'd dry out again. My grandad who used to farm out there said that West Texas was the only place he'd seen where you could be standing knee-deep in mud with sand blowing in your face. Gotta love that red, sandy soil.

Kansas has that too, but the state transportation department is obsessed with closing down major roads entirely and rerouting traffic for up to 100 miles sometimes. Somebody said one time that the state tree is the traffic barricade. LOL!!

As far as the WORST place in tornado alley to chase, that prestigeous award goes to the DFW metro area. It is the chaser's equivalent to Mt. Everest. If a storm went into that jungle, it might as well have moved out over the ocean. I'm so glad to be out of that mess.

 

[Gene Moore]

Traditional knowledge has always been to avoid Turnpikes and other limited access highways other than to get to the storm. Once we're on the storm it's best to use other routes that allow us to maneuver, stop, turn when needed. I can rattle off numerous experiences where being on a Turnpike ruined a chase at a critical time; for example, getting forced into the hail core to make the next exit.

That said, those that played the limited access Interstate during Quinter generally faired better than those that did not. Even with a 4X4 Jeep and good tires the mud roads slowed my progress.

One of my first Interstate dilemmas was to pick old 66 vs the Turnpike to Tulsa. In this case it was a bad move as 66 was flooded and had limited visibility.

Many a screwed up chase can be traced back to one bad road choice....

 

[Stephen Locke]

Great Info

"Here is an old thread that has some additional information....as I basically asked the same question awhile back.
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15470 "

Wow, you folks are all contributing great info. Following Jason's thread led me to
Bobby Prentice Page which led to these great resources.

and

http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/maps_bw/ar_bw.gif


http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/maps_bw/ks_bw.gif


http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/maps_bw/ne_bw.gif


Topo maps from; here.

Thanks much! Definitely going to carry these with me on my hard-drive.

 

[Dan Robinson]

The Turnpikes are great for making good time to your target in the morning, and making a quick 20-30 mile jog down the line if you know where the exits are.

Bypassing them in those cases is not always the best choice. The toll Turnpikes in the Plains almost always run diagonally to the surface road grid, making them significantly shorter in distance between points a and b compared to stairstepping the grid. Not to mention that sometimes the Turnpikes will cut off the surface roads without an overpass/underpass, requiring long diversions not unlike a river crossing. Pete McConnell and I ended up in a cow pasture trying to take a parallel road to the Kansas turnpike once (party due to DeLorme showing our road as paved all the way through).

There are actually many interstates that have long (10 to 20 mile) gaps between exits. I can think of quite a few in the midwest and Plains that have nearly burned me. GPS helps maintain awareness of the exit situation in any case.

 

[ABlaser]

okay--here we go,

I don't want to sound like an ass here-- but something here is missing.
part of storm chasing effectively and safely is paying attention to the road and where you need to go. coming from someone who has lived in both OKC and KC, i can attest to this. if you were so surprised that this was a left only exit that you did not have time to react as a cop was moving into position, then you were paying too much attention to the storm and not to the road. Again, from someone who has lived in both cities, it's just like the highway 71 northbound from eastbound 435 at the grandview triangle and I-70 westbound at the downtown exit--they are left exits and should not be unfamiliar to you. The kilpatrick exit is well marked --with two signs showing left exits in the mile preceding the exit. So, you need to pay more attention or find a partner to help you navigate.

I chased in OKC area this week on 11/05/08. I was travelling east on John Kilpatrick Turnpike (Toll road) and attempted to exit north on I35 so I could position near Edmond for the cell that was moving that direction. As I am not from this area I did not realise the exit is left. As I attempted to change lanes a law enforcement vehicle was rapidly closing on my left. Rather than unsafely change lanes directly in his path I aborted the exit attempt. Now I find myself committed to the Turner Turnpike and a sign says next exit 22 miles! This means 44 miles to correct my mistake. Moreover I am losing 45 minutes of daylight which on this chase day there is precious little of. The chase ended up being a bust for me because I was either imprisoned on I44, searching my vehicle for exact change, or fighting rush hour traffic. I tried route 66 so I'd have better exit options but route 66 reminded me of chasing in Arkansas . . . tree lined and hilly, I never saw the horizon.

Driving back to KC next day I was thinking how, for me at least, terrain is my first priority. As a photographer I want an uncluttered view of the storm. Driving to KC I found myself cataloguing each county as good or bad chase country. One thing is for sure, I can't stand chasing in metro areas.
It is increasingly clear I'd rather chase a marginal storm in favourable terrain than a great storm in town or in crappy terrain.

I'd like to put this question to the group; What is your favourite chase area on the great plains. Use whatever criteria you personally enjoy. My criteria is in this order. 1st) terrain. 2nd) data coverage. 3rd) road network.

And one more question; For those of you who chase on the plethora of turnpikes in Oklahoma, do the authorities allow you to pull over and stop to observe a storm? And how do you deal with the lack of exit points.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

My favorite place to chase, Central Illinois. No other place I've chased in the US has a better combination of flat, treeless terrain with a GREAT of very well maintained roads that you can still drive on during a downpour. I just wish Wisconsin had better terrain because virtually all of our backroads are paved regardless of how little they are used. SW OK and the TX panhandle caprock region come in second with western Minnesota/E. Dakotas following.

 

[Stephen Locke]

My favorite place to chase, Central Illinois. No other place I've chased in the US has a better combination of flat, treeless terrain . . .

Wow,
Topo and biomass maps definetly support what you are saying. I might have to consider a chase to the east . . .

 

[Gene Moore]

okay--here we go,

I don't want to sound like an ass here-- but something here is missing.
part of storm chasing effectively and safely is paying attention to the road and where you need to go. coming from someone who has lived in both OKC and KC, i can attest to this. if you were so surprised that this was a left only exit that you did not have time to react as a cop was moving into position, then you were paying too much attention to the storm and not to the road. Again, from someone who has lived in both cities, it's just like the highway 71 northbound from eastbound 435 at the grandview triangle and I-70 westbound at the downtown exit--they are left exits and should not be unfamiliar to you. The kilpatrick exit is well marked --with two signs showing left exits in the mile preceding the exit. So, you need to pay more attention or find a partner to help you navigate.

In the words of Chris Rock "Come-on-man." People that get on here with chase problems or issues don't need to be spanked.

I grow weary of the chasers that only post when they are bathing in tornado glory. We see their great video when there were only 50 feet from the raging vortex. Of course all the other times they go out and miss an exit looking at the storm instead of the road....well, we don't hear about that, much less details of their 800 mile busts. Every road choice is a crap shoot that may come back to haunt us later in the day. I've darn sure missed exits in rush hour Kansas City....of course I was looking a the storm, the road, the radar, Delorme mapping.....my camera....it's called storm chasing.