Will $5+ / Gallon Gas Keep You From Chasing?

[Bill Hark]

The increase in gas prices won't have an immediate effect as I am already spending a lot to fly out to the Plains. Since I have a limited time, I will still chase those marginal events even up in the Dakotas. I suspect there will be a decrease in chasers for marginal events in the Dakotas or far southwest Texas but there will still be crowds near the cities (OKC, Wichita etc.) I do plan on getting a more efficient vehicle. In 2010, I got stuck with this big fuel-sucking SUV since a hail storm damaged most of the available rental cars.

Bill Hark

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

Gas has gotten me so pissed its not even funny. Just keeps going up, WTF?

Anyway, since there is very little us and our government can do about it, the only thing is to get an extremely fuel efficient / compact vehicle and be more careful in the hail / stay off dirt roads. No more SUV's or vans, especially if chasing solo.

For example, you get an SUV at 15 miles per gallon, then a compact vehicle at 30 MPG, that's like $2 per gallon instead of $4 in a sense. The drawback is not having more than 2 chasers in the vehicle if light on gear.

The overall pattern is a major factor too. Two examples that come to mind are 2006 and 2008. In both years I was chasing solo / caravaning. Both years had gas near $4 a gallon (in May - ofcourse)! But 2006 was an incrwasingly severe nightmare because of the lack of storms and any good setups so far apart (one day I was in Kansas City, MO and a day later I am in Devil's Lake, ND) ;-P

In 2008, with pretty good setups, many of them were confined to W Kansas, May 22 and 23 tornadoes were in the same area within a 50 mile radius. Lots of fuel saved there!

On another positive note, I racked up enough points to get 3 free round-trip tickets as I live in Florida and fly-out to the plains to chase. I know a few others who saved much $$$ using motel points, which I also have with Motel 6 ... Not directly fuel related, but helps with costs, as that's what it's all about ... reducing costs.

 

[Tony Laubach]

Gas prices do suck, but fortunately there are a couple (already mentioned) points to really help offset that..

1. We have a good group of chasers here in Colorado and can usually pack a vehicle with 3-4 people for a chase. That obviously cuts the cost down quite a bit. We also have a group that tends to do all 1200 miles of a chase in a single setting which avoids hotel costs in most cases. Either way, I think the best defense to gas prices is loading the vehicle with as many willing participants as possible.

2. I took the plunge and bought a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Given the already-discussed-in-another-thread issues with my van, I decided to splurge and bought a 2008 Subaru Outback which added 10-15mpg to my ride and nearly doubled the miles-per-tank range of my driving. That should also help a bit; even as the tank is 3 gallons bigger (sticker shock of almost $60 to fill at current prices), but will do it half as much. Of course, the car payment wipes out all that savings and then some..

It won't affect my chasing... I'll complain more, but I'll still be out.

 

[Doug Drace]

YES...Gas Prices DO Suck, but my passion for chasing will always override the costs. Like some of you I plan to add a couple people per chase to help offset the costs. I drive a Nissan Xterra, great on toughness, sucky as hell on gas...approaching $65 to fill it from empty (when I got it 4 years ago it took about $35), and that goes a whole 380 miles (with a tail wind)...aahhh but alas thats the way the cookie crumbles. Screw the oil giants...been chasing the southern plains since '95...so im not gonna stop now

 

[David Drummond]

I don't know if $5 gas will keep me from chasing, but the fact that Allsups Burritos went up 50 cents a piece is likely to kill my chasing budget!

 

[ChristianTerry]

I really hope it doesn't come to that. I haven't even begun to really chase yet and this will crush my dream.

 

[Andy Jackson]

I really hope it doesn't come to that. I haven't even begun to really chase yet and this will crush my dream.

No worries if you live in Houston you can always look for the Gulf Coast setups.

I'm not sure what to think about all of this, does anyone think Coalition forces will be deployed to Libya?

 

[Melissa Jablonski]

Due to advances in forecasting data and tools, I think chase target refinement has made up for a lot of unnecessary driving. Several things will contribute to substantial savings on fuel costs including: Proper tire inflation, a clean air filter, tune-ups and leaving for the target area earlier and taking 5-10 mph off the speed limit when not holding up traffic. One other suggestion, get a locking fuel cap. Motels are notorious for gas thefts, especially when prices jump over $4.00.

Drill baby drill...!!!

W.

Any good dust storm chasing on Tatooine?

 

[Jim Zandonai]

Not planning on chasing less due to gas prices. Due to comittments here all my chases are local or in my general region anyway unless something changes. So not a big deal. My biggest issue is planning or getting off work on key days. Last year I worked until 7pm which made it difficult unless I was off or left early. This year I should be off by early or mid-afternoon.

 

[Michael Towers]

I’m prepared for $4 per gallon and even if gas goes to $5/gallon I’ll still chase as much as I want, at least this year. But if it goes to $5+ there will likely be another recession and then all bets are off for subsequent chasing seasons. A previous post mentioned the upcoming “Day of Rageâ€￾ March 11 in Saudi Arabia; here’s hoping stability prevails because I think the consequences of an upheaval there could be catastrophic. But absent any major problems arising I’m looking forward to another season of chasing regardless the higher fuel costs.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I don't know if $5 gas will keep me from chasing, but the fact that Allsups Burritos went up 50 cents a piece is likely to kill my chasing budget!

Those Allsup's burritos will kill more than your budget!!!

Gas prices going up won't affect my chasing at all. I also drive an Xterra, but I don't mind having a vehicle that gets bad mileage. The trade off is 4 wheel drive, lots of room, excellent toughness to get me through almost anything, and the reliability that I love in a Nissan. Finally, the Xterra is just a bad ass chase vehicle!

I hope the higher gas prices keep most of the yahoos off the road this year. I'd almost pay 5 a gallon to keep the wannebees off the road.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Current cost of gasoline in the UK: $7.89 per gallon.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I hope the higher gas prices keep most of the yahoos off the road this year. I'd almost pay 5 a gallon to keep the wannebees off the road.

I'm afraid that higher gas prices will affect the "real" chasers who are more likely to do the 500-1200 mile round-trip chases, compared to the locals who end up driving 20-100 miles round-trip. In the case of the former, gasoline is a significant expense, and a 50% rise (from past years) may be a back-breaker. In the case of the latter, I'm not sure people will worry too much about having to spend an additional $5-$10 in gas if they get to see something they've probably never seen in real-life.

As others have noted, I'll probably have to curtail solo chases (or me + wife chases) if gas gets up to $5/ga. Otherwise, for those times I would have gone solo, if I can join up with even more other chaser, splitting the costs 50/50, it's equivalent to the old solo chases with <$2.50/ga gas prices. Carpooling is definitely the best way that I can think of to save significant amounts of money.

 

[Jason Boggs]

This will be my saving grace this year if we can get some good days down this way. I'll get paid hourly when I'm chasing in the viewing area (labeled counties)

 

[Paul Knightley]

Same as usual - paying the price of flying over from the UK, etc, means that the fuel cost will just have to be absorbed. As mentioned above we pay through the nose over here in the UK for fuel. I just wish I could get my 50-55mpg+ fuel economy in a US car!