Shane Adams
Nobody is asking for my opinion on this, but I don't care because here it comes anyway....
The issue has been, is, and always will be the fact chasing is so easy now. Anyone can find the storm/tornado. But not all of them know what to do with it. It's like putting a rookie driver in a top-notch ride at Daytona. They'll be fast, and might out run everyone....but they don't know how to race in a crowd. Disaster inevitably ensues. See any of the hundreds (or thousands?) of exhaustingly-annoying youtube clips of screaming chasers being hit by debris. (Aside - someone mentioned saturation, and I agree, there's nothing any more interesting about debris hitting a car than a tornado from 2 miles away these days).
To a greater degree, a lot of these newer chasers don't understand the subtle differences of various types of setups. It was painfully obvious on May 31 last year that any storm that could develop and sustain itself was going to be a monster of (quite likely) unusual (if not rare) proportions. Any chaser worth their salt understands there are days when you just chase, and then there are days when you stay out of the way. The atmosphere is complex and mysterious, but it isn't completely cryptic, for those who can see the data and read the signs. El Reno was not a day to go gleefully tip-toeing into the tulips with a camcorder. Yet several did. And of all the dozens of videos I've seen from that day, what bothered me wasn't that people were in the situations they were in. It was the fact that many of them seemed surprised by it, caught off-guard.
Perhaps the art of forecasting and being able to find a spot where a supercell will form (before it forms and without radar) is lost, to the point where it's not even considered an attribute worthy of note. But the art of knowing how to deal with a tornadic supercell/tornado at close range/in real time is even more lost, on many who scoff at the former. But I'm the kind of person who isn't that interested in other people's stupidity, beyond a good conversation. I don't have the time, energy, or interest to police these people. And you can't police it anyway.
I'll always have an opinion about this topic, and all goings-on in the chasing world. That's partly why The Debris Show was created years ago. I don't believe anyone can physically do anything about wreckless behavior or anything else that brings negativity to the activity of chasing storms, but I do believe that talking about it will (at the very least) piss some people off, and as long as people are pissed, they will vent, and that venting keeps the message going. If I have to be the uncool, bitter, angry old has-been to keep the topic in people's heads, so be it. I'm good in that role.
Do whatever you want. Most of you are adults and are free to act as you choose (beyond stepping on others' civil rights of course, yada yada). But the more notoriety you seek, expect more criticism. This isn't an "all take, no give" kinda planet. I can live with the extreme screamers and their "we chase to save lives, we're not cool we're nerds, we aren't trying to be famous" while being everywhere on the internet constantly chasing style. But don't whine when someone calls you out. That's the price of fame, and what is it they say? "If people are taking sh*t, you must be doing something right?"
Remember that the next time someone takes a shot at you, and you feel that urge to bite back.
The issue has been, is, and always will be the fact chasing is so easy now. Anyone can find the storm/tornado. But not all of them know what to do with it. It's like putting a rookie driver in a top-notch ride at Daytona. They'll be fast, and might out run everyone....but they don't know how to race in a crowd. Disaster inevitably ensues. See any of the hundreds (or thousands?) of exhaustingly-annoying youtube clips of screaming chasers being hit by debris. (Aside - someone mentioned saturation, and I agree, there's nothing any more interesting about debris hitting a car than a tornado from 2 miles away these days).
To a greater degree, a lot of these newer chasers don't understand the subtle differences of various types of setups. It was painfully obvious on May 31 last year that any storm that could develop and sustain itself was going to be a monster of (quite likely) unusual (if not rare) proportions. Any chaser worth their salt understands there are days when you just chase, and then there are days when you stay out of the way. The atmosphere is complex and mysterious, but it isn't completely cryptic, for those who can see the data and read the signs. El Reno was not a day to go gleefully tip-toeing into the tulips with a camcorder. Yet several did. And of all the dozens of videos I've seen from that day, what bothered me wasn't that people were in the situations they were in. It was the fact that many of them seemed surprised by it, caught off-guard.
Perhaps the art of forecasting and being able to find a spot where a supercell will form (before it forms and without radar) is lost, to the point where it's not even considered an attribute worthy of note. But the art of knowing how to deal with a tornadic supercell/tornado at close range/in real time is even more lost, on many who scoff at the former. But I'm the kind of person who isn't that interested in other people's stupidity, beyond a good conversation. I don't have the time, energy, or interest to police these people. And you can't police it anyway.
I'll always have an opinion about this topic, and all goings-on in the chasing world. That's partly why The Debris Show was created years ago. I don't believe anyone can physically do anything about wreckless behavior or anything else that brings negativity to the activity of chasing storms, but I do believe that talking about it will (at the very least) piss some people off, and as long as people are pissed, they will vent, and that venting keeps the message going. If I have to be the uncool, bitter, angry old has-been to keep the topic in people's heads, so be it. I'm good in that role.
Do whatever you want. Most of you are adults and are free to act as you choose (beyond stepping on others' civil rights of course, yada yada). But the more notoriety you seek, expect more criticism. This isn't an "all take, no give" kinda planet. I can live with the extreme screamers and their "we chase to save lives, we're not cool we're nerds, we aren't trying to be famous" while being everywhere on the internet constantly chasing style. But don't whine when someone calls you out. That's the price of fame, and what is it they say? "If people are taking sh*t, you must be doing something right?"
Remember that the next time someone takes a shot at you, and you feel that urge to bite back.
