What do YOU consider a "BUST"?

[Matt Ziebell]

I'd go even further and break busting down into soft and hard categories:

Soft: able to witness or photograph a distant Cb and still have some dignity left at the end of the day
Hard: nothing observed and you begin questioning life in general!

 

[Angie Norris]

To me, a bust is missing your storm for whatever reason, whether it's because of a bad forecast, a navigating error, an error in judgement, or just being lazy and not even trying to go for it (yep, I've been guilty of all the above).

 

[Skip Talbot]

In terms of bustiness:

chase did not meet expectations < blue skies cap bust < missed-the-tornado-by-a-few-minutes-bust < did not chase

My expectations increase the more I chase, and as a result my definition of a did not meet expectations bust broadens.

 

[Gerrit Gulden]

Considering I live in the Northwest and dont experience Midwest chase type storms, a typical bust for myself is seeing the SPC list my area as a Slight risk, then a MD posted for a possible watch and the skies remained clear all day with no action whatsoever.

Seeing thunderstorm clouds at a distance, Getting a weak thunderstorm, seeing a lightning bolt, getting weather photos (severe or not) are all Good chase material for myself. I take anything that comes my way.

-gerrit

 

[Melissa Moon]

For me, when I was in Oklahoma and Texas, a bust was if I go out and instead of seeing anything with rotation (doesn't necessarily have to be a tornado though) I either see blue sky (cap bust) or a linear grunge fest. The reason for this is because I could see plenty of "normal" convection (ie the linear stuff) just by staying home. However, I may have to lower my standards here a bit in Asheville. It seems like these days I am happy to hear thunder haha.

 

[Tony Laubach]

I'm along a lines similar to Chris R in terms of busting... I catagorize it pending on the miles I drive, the expected forecast, what I saw, etc.

A major bust is something similar to May 24, 2004 where I missed every single tornado that day, some by minutes.

To be a bust, usually I need to see crap for anything. Usually I'm happy if I can get some good hail, flooding, lightning, winds, or whatever. But yeah, it varies pending any number of circumstances.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I consider a bust simply as NOT GETTING WHAT YOU SET OUT FOR.

If you are looking for a tornado, and do not get one, that's a bust. Even is a beautiful supercell forms but does not produce a tornado, it's a bust (but only if you are looking for JUST a tornado). People looking for beautiful supercell structure would NOT even think of it as a bust, even though the tornado-only chaser would call it so.

I consider any chase which dishes out any fruitful events a success, and not a bust. I look for, ofcourse, tornadoes - but also appreciate lightning, structure, hail, wind, flooding, etc just as well. It also rewards my forecasting and driving (target area) efforts.

I consider a cap holding strong - and NOTHING happening, and being too far / stuck from a good storm a bust. Besides a cap, traffic jams are excellent bust-makers, especially road costruction (example: the I-70 syndrome), given you are unfortunate to be stuck in them on a chase.

Also, a bust can be "softened" by trying to think up any consolation the chase day may bring (example: "we did not see a tornado, but at least we had a rotating wall cloud and mothership storm").

Dodging the subject of storm chasing, an obcessive passion - A person trying to meet a beautiful Asian woman (who is a fanatic / fond of Asian women) and the woman slaps him on the face just for offering to buy a drink with the "not interested" BS will have the exact same gut-wrenching feeling of a person who was stuck in traffic and saw what he missed on the evening news and / or the playback of the event at a chaser convergance afterwards!!

My thoughts...

 

[Jim Bishop]

I'm pretty surprised to see so many chasers have so many different definitions for a "bust". IMO, if you go storm chasing, regardless of the actual distance traveled, and do not see a thunderstorm, then it's a bust. I'm talking about surface based convection that you actually expected.

My personal favorites are the "clear sky busts" as I'm sure many chasers can relate to. That way at least you've got a nice sunset over the plains, as apposed to maybe overcast or something depressing like that.

Happy chasing or bust.

 

[nickgrillo]

I live in MI, and for the past few years I've been setting off towards the plains whenever an active period is forecasted (i.e. 6/3/05-6/12/05, 3/29/06-4/2/06) and my "standards" are just a tad higher given that I typically have to spend the most money and drive the most miles in order to chase the "traditional" setup. Consequently, I guess my idea of classic bust days would days like 10/22/04, 5/7/05, 6/4/05, and most days in May 2006. Yes, I'd have to say most... I typically have to drive a thousand miles in order to even reach the dryline, ergo, I often like to see convection in a form I couldn't see it in my home state -- e.g. classic, photogenic supercells, which 2006 didn't bring in May or June. Instead, it brung it on several days in the late summer, when I was left flat broke.

To break it down, a bust to me is both the classic "cap" bust and elevated or non-photogenic high-based crap. When chasing, I expect and pine for storms with sustained surface-based inflow.

 

[Robert Dewey]

I live in MI, and for the past few years I've been setting off towards the plains whenever an active period is forecasted (i.e. 6/3/05-6/12/05, 3/29/06-4/2/06) and my "standards" are just a tad higher given that I typically have to spend the most money and drive the most miles in order to chase the "traditional" setup. Consequently, I guess my idea of classic bust days would days like 10/22/04, 5/7/05, 6/4/05, and most days in May 2006. Yes, I'd have to say most... I typically have to drive a thousand miles in order to even reach the dryline, ergo, I often like to see convection in a form I couldn't see it in my home state -- e.g. classic, photogenic supercells, which 2006 didn't bring in May or June. Instead, it brung it on several days in the late summer, when I was left flat broke.

To break it down, a bust to me is both the classic "cap" bust and elevated or non-photogenic high-based crap. When chasing, I expect and pine for storms with sustained surface-based inflow.

Using Chris' equation, ( Bust = (Distance from home)^(Cost of gas) / severity of weather observed at chaser's location(s) ), you'll have to see several +EF4's in order to break even (given your distance) LOL

Since my chases are usually local and the distance variable is small, I suppose I can get away with elevated junk and a few puffs of +45MPH that Michigan often provides.

I probably won't be able to make it very far this year (if at all), I've got a lot of "issues" going on with the family that takes priority.

 

[nickgrillo]

I'm more lenient on the fact that I have to drive so far so many times per year than you'd think. I can name a handful of chasers around the region that have to do the same (namely my frequent chase partner Kurt Hulst). If I go out for a week, and I get at least a couple of decent strong surface-based supercells, then I'll be happy. I think the worst trip of my life was the 5/21/06-5/30/06 trip, when I spent maybe $700 and drove 5500-6500 miles, and wound up with zero sustained supercells. I could have blown the $700 at Players on 8 Mile Rd on a Friday night and would have been a million times happier... LOL

I'm trying to build up a small chase fund for the 2007 season, but I probably won't bother to chase prior to late April. I've spent just under $4500 on chasing in the past three years alone, and I'm trying not to exceed $1,000 for 2007, which is an all-time low. Ergo, that means partnering up quite frequently.

 

[Dean Gill]

I don't wanna do too much calculations, but I rate a bust when I've travelled some miles and I'have not chased any kind of storm with a "good structure". When I speak of good structure I talk about at least a nice mesocyclone or a good squall line/bow echo shelf cloud or a storm with high wind or large hail;in sum I wanna say that I've to feel some good emotion when I chase..If not that's a bust to me.

My definition is more or less the same. I'll just add that I could also be satisfied by observing a photogenic high based storm over the Rockies at sunset. The perfect example is an isolated dry thunderstorm I saw in Alamosa near the Great Sand Dunes natl. park, Colorado.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

For me a bust usually constitutes being under a hot clear capped sky, or even an overcast sky with no storms to be had. Fog chases really do suck!

I am almost like David Drummond, I am pretty good at excepting what I see on chases. If I get a storm (not a girlie shower with just a few rumbles of thunder or one strike of lightning), I am happy... if I get a huge haboob, a really good squall line, supercell or tornado, then I am thrilled and feel pumped. I do like the storms of tornado alley much better than Ontario's, but if the storm is good for Ontario's standards, then I will be pleased, but of course I know there are better ones somewhere out there.....

 

[Aric Cylkowski]

Being another Michigan chaser, but one who generally lacks the funds to go out to the Plains to chase, I generally chase closer to home and I have had to come to terms that I am not necessarily going to get Plains-type weather. Therefore:

A major bust is like all other major busts where there are clear skies on days where severe weather of any variety is indicated.

A moderate bust is when convection does occur, but falls short of expectations. This usually happens when severe weather is indicated, but ends up being weak thunderstorms, thundershowers or just showers in general.

A minor bust is when severe weather does occur, but misses me by such a margin that an intercept is highly unlikely.

On to a more positive note:

A decent chase day involves severe convective activity. Case in point was last year when I intercepted a storm NE of Goodrich, MI in April that had reports of funnel clouds attached to it. It had some rotation in the updraft region and some nice nickle-sized hail, but it was not very photogenic and I ended up having to find my way home out of the dirt road maze I ended up on.

A good chase day involves either seeing a strong derecho event or getting within range of a nice supercell. A weak tornado will usually seal the deal on it being a good chase, and seeing as SE MI has had a kind of "tornado drought" for the last few years, its been an unlikely occurance.

An excellent chase day is one involving a "May 1998"-type derecho event during the day or a "mini-outbreak" event (much like early July 1997). This happens "once in a blue moon" for Michigan where instability is high and upper-level dynamics are extremely favorable for the development of tornadoes. Precluding poor visibility, this type of event will probably result in an intercept of a weak to strong tornado. Like I already said however, an event like this in Michigan is a rarity and will probably suffer from poor visibility anyway due to terrain, trees, etc. Still, its probably still worth chasing as long as the proper precautions are taken.

 

[cedwards]

A bust is when you go out and see little or nothing when you expect to see something good. If expectations are not high. It is usually not a bust when you don't see much.

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