What makes an elite chaser?

[Chad Berryhill]

1. Passionate about Meteorology? Absolutely! I’ve had a few classes in Met and Climatology, and wish I had more. I learned forecasting through my chase partner, Lanny Dean. So I’ve been fortunate to have a 20 year vet as a mentor. There is no greater feeling than to make a forecast, and it verifying. My next goal is to learn winter weather forecasting for the southern plains….it’s tough! What type of winter precip and how much? I love Meteorology !

2. I’m always optimistic. You just never know what Ma Nature is going to treat you with.

3. Lead Guide for Extreme Chase Tours, I’m always out.

4. Aggressive with a big side of caution. I’m not trying to scare, harm, or kill my guest. No dirt roads 95% of the time. We will miss a tornado if the road networks are not there, or chaser convergence is going to be a problem. Core punching is highly avoided. Now everything changes without customers.

5. Vid cam on the tripod and a DSLR in my hands. Sometimes the stream is up. I don’t have time to twitter, facebook, etc…while on a storm. My focus is on the storm and my guests. Plus there is a huge support network at HQ, and our status is updated on a regular bases.

Decent on 1, High on 2, High on 3, Marginal on 4, Decent on 5. I would give myself a 5 on a scale from 1-10. 10 being elite.

If I ever make it to the elite status, I won’t think of myself in that regard. If my peers ever view me in that light cool. I more than likely wouldn’t make elite running a tour anyways. Safety protocol will be the cause, and I'm okay with that.

 

[Matthew Crowther]

The recent discussion about chasers, V2, etc. got me thinking about what it takes to become an "elite" chaser. I don't mean an "elitist" chaser, just one who tends to be more successful than most.

Here's my impression:

1. Intense interest in meteorology that may extend beyond tornadoes. It's clear you have to be passionate about the weather to be a really good chaser, and that passion drives your forecast ability. To be a great chaser you need to be at least a good forecaster, and you need to be motivated.

This is probably my strongest attribute- I am a forecast junkie, and I do it for a living. I do at least a mental chase forecast even on days I am sitting at home in ATL. the more you do it, the better you get.

2. "Hopeless" optimist. This is an important attribute. Personally, I spend lots of time on the "cost-benefit analysis" such that I'm prone to skip days that end up being nice tornado producers. The very best chasers apply a cost-benefit analysis to the most marginal situations, but they don't let it stop them from chasing most days and most distances.

Depends- I am fair on this- not willing to chase some "marginal" days cost me the Campo/OK tornadoes- if I am a long distance away this is a big factor. I am no spring chicken any more and the long drives can be wearing at times.

3. Available to chase. This also makes a great chaser. Chasing all the time helps fine-tune your decision making for those days when it matters most. It's also easier to live with the risk that goes along with aggressive targeting decisions when you know you'll have many opportunities to make up for any mistakes.

This an another big negative for me. Not living in the Plains and holding down a job with vacation time to consider (I do not use all of my time for chasing) limits chase days. I have two weeks usually in late May/June, and can come out on selected days for a "short notice" chase, but there are a lot of events I miss simply because I am not in the Plains.


4. Aggressive and decisive. To win the prize you have to be willing to accept risk. The most successful chasers do this by not let hail cores, poor roads, distance, etc., stand in their way of tornadoes. They also don't let their own original forecasts stand in the way of changing targets when they need to change. Sometimes the aggressiveness is manifest as crazy driving (I certainly don't advocate this approach), but mostly it's the willingness to do what it takes to be successful.

Fair-poor here but improving the past few years. I have only had one window/windshield cracked or broken in 20 years of chasing- Roger Hill probably averages 5- windshields a season LOL. I have chased with partners the past few years that are a lot more aggressive and I am gradually getting more so myself but I will never reach the level of some.

Lastly, you could add 5) the ability to document the chase and share with others. A keen eye w.r.t. photos or video can really drive home your success, and it makes it much easier for others to believe you're good when you've got the images to show for it!

Mixed bag here: Since I take photos almost exclusively now I have gotten a lot of really great artsy photos of wicked supercell structure, but am short on good tornado photos. The tendency to stay back and get the whole storm in my frame has cost me some close-up views of tornadoes but my recent purchase of a 10MM lens helps in this area .

Assessing myself, I think I'm decent on 1), marginal on 2), poor on 3), and getting better on 4). I guess that makes me a middle-of-the-pack chaser, in line with my 5-10 tornadoes per year average. I've been working on 5), but I doubt I'll ever be better than the upper half of the pack.

I am probably also a middle of the pack guy as far as tornadoes go, but I have supercell photos I would stack up against almost anybody.

 

[Danny Neal]

1. Intense interest in meteorology that may extend beyond tornadoes. It's clear you have to be passionate about the weather to be a really good chaser, and that passion drives your forecast ability. To be a great chaser you need to be at least a good forecaster, and you need to be motivated. My interest was actually fear. I had an F5 tornado hit very near me as I was a child and up until the age of 8 I was deathly terrified. I used to check out every book, look at every website, watch TLC and DSC and have my dad record every single special. I still watch them sometimes. Ever since I was 8 all I wanted to do was be a "weatherman" I went to C.O.D and went through their met. program but never pursued it afterwards. Being only 23 there is plenty of time to advance my education. I don't see myself as a GREAT forecaster, but I know enough to continually get results. My 3 passions in life have always been #1 Weather, #2 Firefighting/public safety, #3 playing baseball.

2. "Hopeless" optimist. This is an important attribute. Personally, I spend lots of time on the "cost-benefit analysis" such that I'm prone to skip days that end up being nice tornado producers. The very best chasers apply a cost-benefit analysis to the most marginal situations, but they don't let it stop them from chasing most days and most distances. Normally I would chase every single set up in IA/IL/WI/IN/MO area. That was "my" turf. No matter how marginal it was I was out there. I would only go out to the plains on "sure things" maybe one or two times a year. That was mainly because I was still in highschool/didn't have a car/or just couldn't afford it. The past three years have been completely different as I am done with school, have a flexible job, and a couple extra dollars. You can find me out on the plains 2-3 times a month for 4-5 days at a time. I am out there on 5/10 days and days like 4/29. I make the best at what I am given, at any time or distance.

3. Available to chase. This also makes a great chaser. Chasing all the time helps fine-tune your decision making for those days when it matters most. It's also easier to live with the risk that goes along with aggressive targeting decisions when you know you'll have many opportunities to make up for any mistakes. 1998-2002 I chased sparsely due to my age/school. I didn't really consider myself a chaser just someone who traveled locally to see storms. After 2003 to 2007 I chased whenever I could, but still put high school/college and baseball on the front burner. I believe this actually made me a better chaser. I knew I wouldn't have a million opportunities to chase so accurate forecasting and knowing my stuff was a MUST. If I would only get out 10-12 times a year I would want them to be worth it. Not chasing the SPC, NWS, or TWC. I underwent a major growth in this time period From 08 - on I have been available to chase almost at almost any time. I forecast for myself, chase with Adam or anyone else if they are available (If not I just take my gf and go out alone) I have rearranged my work schedule where I could just trade and take off to chase.

4. Aggressive and decisive. To win the prize you have to be willing to accept risk. The most successful chasers do this by not let hail cores, poor roads, distance, etc., stand in their way of tornadoes. They also don't let their own original forecasts stand in the way of changing targets when they need to change. Sometimes the aggressiveness is manifest as crazy driving (I certainly don't advocate this approach), but mostly it's the willingness to do what it takes to be successful. I have one of the most aggressive mindsets out there. Sometimes the move pays off (May 10th/May 22nd) and sometimes well (see: farm field) A number of times I have abandoned my original target. It isn't about pride to me. If I F up my original target and storms happen else I would rather go intercept there and not sit under a blue sky billowing with pride that I stuck with my OT. We do what we have to to get to a target/storm. Do we stay within the lines of the law? well....

Lastly, you could add 5) the ability to document the chase and share with others. A keen eye w.r.t. photos or video can really drive home your success, and it makes it much easier for others to believe you're good when you've got the images to show for it! I can never settle on layout I like about my webpage. www.northernilstormchaser.com so it is kind of in shambles. The way I want to have is like http://northernilstormchaser.com/June-17th%2C-2010----Albert-Lea%2C-MN.php this. I will spending all free time at work/home/school trying to type up 108 more logs with pictures and videos. Right now my technology aspect is probably piss poor.

Assessing myself, I think I'm decent on 1), marginal on 2), poor on 3), and getting better on 4). I guess that makes me a middle-of-the-pack chaser, in line with my 5-10 tornadoes per year average. I've been working on 5), but I doubt I'll ever be better than the upper half of the pack.

As Rich said.... I probably average a 6 out of 10 on all the categories. Documenting my chases in a timely fashion is a weakness. With my strengths laying in my availability to chase and my willingness to jump over any hurdle to see and get to a storm. I am an average forecaster with an aggressive style and never willing to go home empty handed!

 

[Matthew Crowther]

One big thing I just thought of to add a bullet to Rich's fine list: How much radar/data do you have in the vehicle? I think this makes a HUGE difference sometimes. In order to adjust your target during the day in the most effective manner, and then navigate to a good part of the storm especially if it is HP it is very helpful to have the best radar possible. This is accomplished by having at least two sources of data, and maybe 3 or more. Two or more cell providers plus MTN is the most optimal. The Tour operators have probably the best setups, and I doubt they are ever without internet data for any long period of time. I have both ATT and Verizon, plus MTN. This means I usually have data, but like last week on the NE TX panhandle, both cell providers were useless and I had to rely on MTN. I would rank myself in the top 1/3 with data, but not near the very top.

 

[Rich Thompson]

If you add data access to the list, I'd rate poor in that regard. The best I've ever had is occasional GR3 with a laptop, or intermittent iPhone views of Radarscope. At best my access to data ranks in the middle to lower third, and I'm nowhere close to the chase tour operators. That's why a good forecast is even more important for me - I have to rely on the experience of 25 years chasing and 16 years at SPC

 

[Rob H]

1) Intense interest, and (I think/hope) my skill is increasing quickly. My two goals right now are an anti-cyclonic tornado and Kelvin-Helmholtz in a supercell body so it's not all about getting as close as possible to a big, mean twister. It's still my first year chasing "hard", so I have a lot of learning to do.

2) If I get to see severe hail, wall clouds, nice shelf clouds, or hear sirens - I consider it a successful chase. The only bust to me is a blue sky bust, although it's still nice getting out on the road with friends. I'm usually overly optimistic, unless I'm talked into chasing situations I have bad feelings about. Any storm is great to witness!

3) IT job that I can take off with little to no notice. The wife gets lonely and it's still expensive, so I try to thoroughly vet my chases. I've been out on 10 chases this year in TX, CO, WY, NE, SD, MN, IA, OK, and KS.

4) Not aggressive at all. Was too conservative on 4/22 and 6/17 and missed the big tornadoes (but still saw tornadoes). Too aggressive on Wakita 5/10 and nearly got stomped. Aggressive on 6/22 and it felt good

5) Right now, I'm just trying to balance personal life, work, and chasing and documenting chasing is taking a back seat. Every time I start editing video or logging a chase, I start tearing apart a new forecast. I'm really analytical so I feel the need to be better at this, I just haven't had the time.

As for equipment.. I want to try chasing naked sometime next year, but technology really makes things easier. We've been going out with Sprint and Verizon data, XM Mobile Threatnet on one latop, and GRLevel3 on another laptop. Radarscope/SN on the iPhone. We need to get our power situation figured out so everything can be on and charging at once, and we need to get some screens mounted and wires tucked away. We would love to go touchscreen for Threatnet, but that's probably not happening soon.

 

[AndyGabrielson]

The recent discussion about chasers, V2, etc. got me thinking about what it takes to become an "elite" chaser. I don't mean an "elitist" chaser, just one who tends to be more successful than most.

Here's my impression:

1. Intense interest in meteorology that may extend beyond tornadoes. It's clear you have to be passionate about the weather to be a really good chaser, and that passion drives your forecast ability. To be a great chaser you need to be at least a good forecaster, and you need to be motivated.

This is my 8th year chasing... I have worked on my forecasting over the past three years and I started really getting confidence in 2009, and this year, not all of it's forecasting, luck plays a big role, for anyone to say they nail every forecast in just arrogance, lets be honest, you can pinpoint an area, but getting a storm to fire up in your target when anywhere from NE to TX could see tornadoes is part skill part luck. Onto other things I take an interest in virtually all forms of weather, severe or not.

2. "Hopeless" optimist. This is an important attribute. Personally, I spend lots of time on the "cost-benefit analysis" such that I'm prone to skip days that end up being nice tornado producers. The very best chasers apply a cost-benefit analysis to the most marginal situations, but they don't let it stop them from chasing most days and most distances.

I have been extremely fortunate to have the ability to chase most events, as long as I can chase them, I usually do if it appears there is a tornado threat to me I will try, Hammon OK this year was a great example of why doing your own forecasting and taking a risk can pay off.

3. Available to chase. This also makes a great chaser. Chasing all the time helps fine-tune your decision making for those days when it matters most. It's also easier to live with the risk that goes along with aggressive targeting decisions when you know you'll have many opportunities to make up for any mistakes.

Again I have been fortunately and have been able to chase alot of events, I certainly have taken risks in my targets and sometimes it's a reward and sometimes it's me and Kris Hair remarking about how "these are the largest rain drops we have seen all day..."

4. Aggressive and decisive. To win the prize you have to be willing to accept risk. The most successful chasers do this by not let hail cores, poor roads, distance, etc., stand in their way of tornadoes. They also don't let their own original forecasts stand in the way of changing targets when they need to change. Sometimes the aggressiveness is manifest as crazy driving (I certainly don't advocate this approach), but mostly it's the willingness to do what it takes to be successful.

I chase everywhere if the threat appears great enough. I have no problem tracking a storm in Mississippi becuase it's better than seeing the pictures of an awesome tornado that I missed later. Road networks irritate me because I like to get close and sometimes I can't, but don't get me wrong I absolutely love timelapses and if I can't get close I will get 5 miles away and do a timelapse of a supercell or tornado... it's all about making do with what you have in my opinion...

Lastly, you could add 5) the ability to document the chase and share with others. A keen eye w.r.t. photos or video can really drive home your success, and it makes it much easier for others to believe you're good when you've got the images to show for it!

Video, it's what I feel I am good at, and it's what I stick with, I love still photos, Mike H, thanks for your kind words above but I wish I had your ability to capture stills. I try, but it doesn't hold a candle to his and others works in the still photo field. When I get up close and shoot video like I like to do, I honestly look forward to seeing the stills of the tornado that someone captured from 3 miles away with the view of the whole storm, if I could clone myself and be in two places at once I would.


I feel I do OK in all the aspects, I really don't like to judge myself or anyone else for that matter, which is why I usually don't share too much on here because everyone does what they do for a variety of reasons, everyone who has taken the time to assess themself on here and their chasing ability, and everyone who posts chase logs or posts chase reviews on their personal site, it doesn't matter, we all love doing the same thing and all have a common interest, and that's pretty damn awesome if you ask me...

 

[John Farley]

Interesting thread. Let me try to see where I fit in.

The recent discussion about chasers, V2, etc. got me thinking about what it takes to become an "elite" chaser. I don't mean an "elitist" chaser, just one who tends to be more successful than most.

Here's my impression:

1. Intense interest in meteorology that may extend beyond tornadoes. It's clear you have to be passionate about the weather to be a really good chaser, and that passion drives your forecast ability. To be a great chaser you need to be at least a good forecaster, and you need to be motivated.

I definitely am passionate about the weather, and not just tornadoes. This year I'd rate a couple of thundersnow events I experienced on a par with all but 2 or 3 of the supercells I have seen this year. As to forecasting, it is forever a learning process, but I have gotten quite a bit better than I used to be.

2. "Hopeless" optimist. This is an important attribute. Personally, I spend lots of time on the "cost-benefit analysis" such that I'm prone to skip days that end up being nice tornado producers. The very best chasers apply a cost-benefit analysis to the most marginal situations, but they don't let it stop them from chasing most days and most distances.

I'm a lot like Rich here - the longer the drive, the better the setup needs to be. This cost-benefit analysis causes me to miss some good events - I knew the cold-core setup had potential SE of Kansas City on May 10, but I also knew these setups are hit-and-miss - so I chose not to chase. Cost me a chance to see a nice tornado right where I would have gone, had I chased. That's the most painful one this year. OTOH, I don't regret a couple of the OK mass chaser convergences I missed, in part because of concern about that exact issue.

3. Available to chase. This also makes a great chaser. Chasing all the time helps fine-tune your decision making for those days when it matters most. It's also easier to live with the risk that goes along with aggressive targeting decisions when you know you'll have many opportunities to make up for any mistakes.

Being retired, I'm fairly available - but due to the aforementioned cost-benefit analysis I don't always go out. Also, I don't totally plan my life around chasing - once each of the past 2 years I have missed a big tornado day I could have easily chased because I had concert tickets (Beach Boys last year/Kirksville day, Crosby, Stills, & Nash this year/Campo day). Concerts were great, and there will be other tornadoes. I wasn't going to not buy tickets because it MIGHT be a chase day.

4. Aggressive and decisive. To win the prize you have to be willing to accept risk. The most successful chasers do this by not let hail cores, poor roads, distance, etc., stand in their way of tornadoes. They also don't let their own original forecasts stand in the way of changing targets when they need to change. Sometimes the aggressiveness is manifest as crazy driving (I certainly don't advocate this approach), but mostly it's the willingness to do what it takes to be successful.

I'm fairly cautious. Have never lost a windshield to hail, and don't intend to. And as much as I'm mesmerized by video like that from Billings the other day, I prefer to stay back from the tornado where I can see the whole thing, not just whatever craziness might be occuring at ground level.

Lastly, you could add 5) the ability to document the chase and share with others. A keen eye w.r.t. photos or video can really drive home your success, and it makes it much easier for others to believe you're good when you've got the images to show for it!

I document to a fault, writing detailed chase reports even for rather marginal events. Sometimes I get more video and other times more stills, but I always get a lot of one or the other, and I have gotten better at it (and better equipment) over time.

So overall, I guess I'd say I'm good on 1 and 5, and marginal on 2, 3, and 4.

Assessing myself, I think I'm decent on 1), marginal on 2), poor on 3), and getting better on 4). I guess that makes me a middle-of-the-pack chaser, in line with my 5-10 tornadoes per year average. I've been working on 5), but I doubt I'll ever be better than the upper half of the pack.

 

[Jesse Risley]

1. Intense interest in meteorology that may extend beyond tornadoes. It's clear you have to be passionate about the weather to be a really good chaser, and that passion drives your forecast ability. To be a great chaser you need to be at least a good forecaster, and you need to be motivated.

A: On this one, I would rate myself as average to slightly above average. I'm not a meteorologist by any means, and I have a lot more to learn about forecasting and synoptic weather patterns, but I have an intense desire to learn and I've self-educated myself over the last few years. Score: 6 out of 10

2. "Hopeless" optimist. This is an important attribute. Personally, I spend lots of time on the "cost-benefit analysis" such that I'm prone to skip days that end up being nice tornado producers. The very best chasers apply a cost-benefit analysis to the most marginal situations, but they don't let it stop them from chasing most days and most distances.

A: I'll be the first to admit that I am indubitably a "Debbie downer," as I'm always trying to find something wrong with a setup. However, in the end, if I'm available, I usually end up going anyhow, since I have the attitude that you can't win if you don't play. Score: 4 out of 10

3. Available to chase. This also makes a great chaser. Chasing all the time helps fine-tune your decision making for those days when it matters most. It's also easier to live with the risk that goes along with aggressive targeting decisions when you know you'll have many opportunities to make up for any mistakes.

A: On this one, I'm a little better than many. I'm not married and I don't have any kids that I'm aware of, BUT I do live in Illinois, which makes the availability to chase on the Plains harder, even during weekend setups. Since I'm a school teacher, I have late May until late August off, which gives me that entire time period to chase. Score: 7 out of 10

4. Aggressive and decisive. To win the prize you have to be willing to accept risk. The most successful chasers do this by not let hail cores, poor roads, distance, etc., stand in their way of tornadoes. They also don't let their own original forecasts stand in the way of changing targets when they need to change. Sometimes the aggressiveness is manifest as crazy driving (I certainly don't advocate this approach), but mostly it's the willingness to do what it takes to be successful.

A: I will not risk major damage to my vehicle from elephantine sized hail. Otherwise, I'm right up there with the rest of em' in terms of being aggressive and wanting to bag a wedge. Score: 8 out of 10

Lastly, you could add 5) the ability to document the chase and share with others. A keen eye w.r.t. photos or video can really drive home your success, and it makes it much easier for others to believe you're good when you've got the images to show for it!

A: I've gotten really good at this the past year, but up until about two or three years ago, even my local/regional chases were done without a video camera and a mediocre point and shoot still camera at best. Now that we have the Convective Addiction website, I've been documenting my chases and making short films, and I'll only continue to improve on this. My videography experiences have been nothing short of baptism by fire, but that's the best way to learn as far as I am concerned. There is always room for improvement.
Score: 7 out of 10

Final Average: 32 out of 50 = 64% (D) on my grading scale. If I were grading a student, I would say that a much more concerted effort is needed to rise up the ranks. In fact, that's pretty close to being pathetic. I won't be earning that elite (90%) average this time around.

 

[Chad Berryhill]

One big thing I just thought of to add a bullet to Rich's fine list: How much radar/data do you have in the vehicle? I think this makes a HUGE difference sometimes. In order to adjust your target during the day in the most effective manner, and then navigate to a good part of the storm especially if it is HP it is very helpful to have the best radar possible. This is accomplished by having at least two sources of data, and maybe 3 or more. Two or more cell providers plus MTN is the most optimal. The Tour operators have probably the best setups, and I doubt they are ever without internet data for any long period of time. I have both ATT and Verizon, plus MTN. This means I usually have data, but like last week on the NE TX panhandle, both cell providers were useless and I had to rely on MTN. I would rank myself in the top 1/3 with data, but not near the very top.

Doesn't matter how much data you have. The ability to forecast and be in the zone is critical. To much data can be a downfall. If you would like to converse more about it, feel free to send me a pm, email, etc...