Whats your tornado count in your chasing career?

[Tony Cook]

1 billion and 1!

The most recent event was in my back yard, remarkably with no apparent convection anywhere in the state of Texas. A pile of leaves made the three-foot vortex apparent for its two second lifetime.

I counted it as 17 tornadoes.

TonyC

A billion.

That is a 1 followed by this many zeros:

000000000

Bow down, my minions.

 

[Kevin Askew]

1997: Flora IL. F-3 Dix Exit -Flora
2002: Butler CO. MO. F-4 (Rope Stage) F-0/F-1 damage. Poplar Bluff/Fisk area. Work hampered getting to this storm earlier.....
2003: Scott Co. MO. F-3- Pope Co. IL. Funnel or F-1 Near Ky Border. (Same Storm)
2006: Perry, Randolph, SW Jefferson Co. MO. F-3 Also our longest track 30 miles give or take sighted 4 times.

Missed some chase/spot opportunities over the years. Now have a wider area we chase. Ideally, we like SE MO. area & track back to So. IL.

 

[Gene Moore]

A touchy topic that's been discussed in length over on WX-Chase. I find interesting comments like "I'm not competitive so I don't count." Huh, why is knowing where one stands competitive? If we spend much money and time chasing then we should keep track of how good we're doing. I don't keep records like I used to, but I still have a rough idea where I stand. Right now my average is pretty well set, about 10 tornadoes per year. Of course that includes bad years like 1988 (2) and good years like 2004 with 36. Most chasers that hit the big days of 2004 racked up alot of tornadoes. So why is it important to keep some statistics? I used to keep a log of not only chase results, good and bad, but hail encounters vs damage and bad road situations like getting stuck in the mud. Do you miss tornadoes, do you know why, if not your wasting money and time. I did years of numbers on why I missed tornadoes, here are the top reasons. (1) getting to the storm late/ looking at data too long (2) falling behind the mesocyclone and getting cutoff by heavy precip or hail (3) impassable roads usually mud (4) not making a decision between two storms quick enough. In the following years I eliminated many of these issues. Hence one of my chase rules: "there is right, wrong and late, late is always wrong." It might be noteworthy that none of my top failure modes is forecasting. Another very important statistic to count is how many times you did not go and were correct! Just because SPC calls for a big day you don't have to go. Yesterday was a fine example of when not to go considering the linear mode vs the terrain. Some people are good in the winding roads of Missouri and Tennessee, I am not and I know my limitations. Unless you just love to hear the sound of thunder it's not important to be out there on every single storm. Now that is competitive, fear of missing something someone else will get

. Why do you miss tornadoes, getting stuck on too many HP's, losing the windshild northeast of the meso, going on marginal days, burned by the CAP .....it's worth thinking about.

Gene Moore

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I think most keeping track are actually the ones that aren't all that competitive/"evil". I don't keep great track, but that is mostly because I'm lazy. I can however see how it'd be SIMPLY interesting to SOME to know. Which I guess is just too much for some to handle...something maybe outside their first judgement.

 

[scott r currens]

I did years of numbers on why I missed tornadoes, here are the top reasons. (1) getting to the storm late/ looking at data too long (2) falling behind the mesocyclone and getting cutoff by heavy precip or hail (3) impassable roads usually mud (4) not making a decision between two storms quick enough.

I have found that leaving my target too soon or not going to my target at all are the biggest reasons I miss tornadoes. Sometimes it is because I talk myself out of a target while getting updates on the road or I leave my target to intercept storms that initiated somewhere else.

Another very important statistic to count is how many times you did not go and were correct! Just because SPC calls for a big day you don't have to go.
Gene Moore

I did the opposite this winter and looked at all the tornado days in 2006 that I could have chased but didn't. It is amazing how many tornado days I miss because I wasn't paying attention.

 

[Terry Tyler]

zero...ive been chasing for 3 years, but havent had anyone to support me as far as it goes...since im only 18 and work part time...i dont have funds to purchase the equipment i need to get the job done...but still...i try...

ive got a few funnels and on november, 15 2005 i saw one about to form...but no...i have never seen a tornado in my chasing career...

like i say every year...maybe THIS is the year....

 

[Shane Adams]

Glad to see so many posts, interesting numbers, thanks! Also surprised about so many respondings, since its wildy-unpopular topic, right Shane?

LOL, well, that comment was spawned from a time when I was a newbie, describing the general consensus of the chasers that were established then. If you look through this thread, you'll find few replies by chasers with more experience than me...which reflects my point

 

[Caleb Kimbrough]

One

(A post has to be at least 10 characters long, so I'm typing this in parentheses. Exciting, I know.)

 

[Jay McCoy]

LOL, well, that comment was spawned from a time when I was a newbie, describing the general consensus of the chasers that were established then. If you look through this thread, you'll find few replies by chasers with more experience than me...which reflects my point

Even some of us old guys like to keep count. Never bought into that "its not about numbers" stuff. I like to know what kind of year its been and nothing rates it better than a tornado count to me except quality of the tornados I saw. I would rather see 1 f5 than 10 f0's but will take anything I get.

Some think keeping count is about ego and bragging but I could care less if others know. I keep count for me. Just like I have always said I dont chase to be popular or be seen on tv. I would chase if I was the only person in the world. Otherwise I would have big websites and blogs and tv contracts. I have sold video and been on national shows but dont actively look for them. I could care less.

I know Shane is the same way.

 

[Richard Halter]

I have to keep track

Because I have to travel from Oregon and spend the precious family lucre, unless I can document my success, I have a hard time justifying my expenditures to the "banker"

Besides, unless I can move to the Alley, I doubt I will ever come close to a billion and 1 in my lifetime, so i have to treasure each and every one.

 

[Kurt Hulst]

2002: 1
2004:28
2005:33
2006:0
2007:1

so around 63 total

2004-05 were good years to me. 2006 I saw a lot of funnels I did not get much chance to chase during the bigger outbreaks in 06.

 

[Bill Tabor]

I believe I'm somewhere between 60 and 100, but since I moved I'm not sure where my tornado count list is. I need to update it for recent years. One note for me was during those recent years where many / most of you got 40 to 60 tornadoes in a year ie 2004 and other years up north I chose not to go. I sometimes get a bit tired of driving all the way to KS not to mention Iowa, etc. However that set me way back, and I also missed some great tornadoes. Oh well, can't catch em all. One of these days though - hopefully soon I will try and find my list and attempt to update it more accurately. Note: I chased for years lots of storms (even with Gene Moore) that never produced. Then there are certain years, certain storms, that are prolific tornado producers. If you are on those storms you are in luck. If you aren't your numbers game suffers. I suspect if the pattern stays north such as Iowa, South Dakota, even Nebraska I may miss out on a lot, but will chase some of them. Hopefully it will all 'come back to Texas' (to quote a recent popular song) soon.

 

[George Flickinger]

I saw my first tornado in 1997. However I haven't really kept "score", though four memorable chases account for 15-20 tornadoes. I was hoping to see at least one tornado every year for the rest of my life, but got shut out last year....but have started a new streak thanks to 3/26/07! George

 

[Mikel Shively]

2003: 1
2004: 0
2005: 1
2006: 2
2007: (so far) 0

Total: 4

 

[Jeremy Bower]

I began chasing back in 1999 while I was a senior in high school. At that time I didn't have the money nor the experience to really chase anything outside a 100 mile radius of my hometown in eastern Ohio. Beginning in 2001 is when I made my annual trip to the Plains for a couple weeks to chase. Now that I live in Lincoln I have more opportunities to chase when I'm not working with the Emergency Operations Center.

Tornado Count
1999: 0
2000: 0
2001: 1
2002: 0
2003: 22
2004: 1
2005: 2
2006: 1
2007: none so far
Total: 26