Worst chase country

[Karen Politte]

I think Karen was only comparing EASTERN Arkansas to the Panhandle ... terrain-wise, it's similar, with flat, cleared agri land that has expansive views, but of course the chaseable area is smaller, you don't get the wide array of supercells that far east (no LPs, some Gulf-style HPs that are hard to see inside), the season is much shorter (not much after May 15 most years), and there's more haze the later in the season you get.

Those of us who have had a good catch there (Karen's was earlier this month; mine was January 1999 before I left the area) are a little partial to that little strip of plains between unchaseable terrain on either side!
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Well of course. Thanks Kevin for putting it so astutely. There is, obviously, absolutely no point in comparing the Talimena Scenic Drive to Hereford, Texas! It's all relative......just another one of those threads to help pass a boring morning at work.

I would add, however, that I don't think the dryline is an exclusive feature of the Texas Panhandle! :lol: It works its magic no matter where you are......climatological features know no physical boundaries, really - apart from extreme topographical influences on the mesoscale.

K.

 

[Jay McCoy]

I agree karen that the dryline isnt an exclusive to the panhandle but nowhere is it sharper due to the extreme dry air of NM and the closeness of the gulf. A 50 degree DP spread is common. And nowhere else is it the main driving force in storm initiation. Without the dryline the panhandle would get awefully boring.

And now ya'll have me curiouis about eastern Arkansas since I have never chased there. Still not the same but I like chasing new areas. adds a new challenge.

 

[Karen Politte]

I agree karen that the dryline isnt an exclusive to the panhandle but nowhere is it sharper due to the extreme dry air of NM and the closeness of the gulf. A 50 degree DP spread is common. And nowhere else is it the main driving force in storm initiation. Without the dryline the panhandle would get awefully boring.

And now ya'll have me curiouis about eastern Arkansas since I have never chased there. Still not the same but I like chasing new areas. adds a new challenge.
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Yes I agree with you there about the potential for nice, sharp drylines out there. I'll never forget the sharpness of the dryline on May 12th 2004 - the Attica day. I don't have the exact obs imprinted on my memory but I remember watching the temps skyrocket and the dewpoints bottom-out behind that dryline punch that was coming in. I have some good captures and an animation of the dryline/bulge progression on that page there, too.

I don't really know about the characteristics of the dryline further east - but I am sure there are some generalized differences. Kevin summed up this area's potentials and caveats well in his earlier post.

Jay you'll need to do eastern AR some time - even if it's just to chase in the horrid terrain around the Searcy area and then burst out onto the chase-nirvana of the eastern part of the state. It's like night and day. It's exciting to see tornadoes in an area that you would never have dreamed possible or plausible. April 2nd this year still seems like a dream to me. I have no idea how we managed to see what we saw that day......apart from Jason driving like some possessed bat-out-of-hell to keep up with everything until it all started going tornadic. We did it, tho.

I'd like to have a good tornado day in southwest Missouri or southeast Kansas, personally - that's an area which has still to produce for me and I can see its potential.

K.

 

[Laura Duchesne]

Here in Ontario (if anyone cares lol) the Niagara escarpment is horrible to chase in. Last year we headed out towards the Hamilton area, what a mistake that was! You literally need to stay on the hwy to see anything half decent. Lots of trees, hills, and poor road options. From now I am just gonna stick to areas W, NW and SW of the Waterloo area. Or even better, why don't I just forget this place and head to the plains?

 

[Tom Mitchell]

LOL

I envy you all, even in the worst of North American chase country.

Even if there were tornadoes here, the island is only 4 miles wide. If you like short chases, come on over! Then again, it makes choosing your target area easy---pick a nice beach and watch the horizon. (actually, daytime convection results in lots of waterspouts just like the Florida Keys.)

Then again, if you like tropical storms, it is a different story...

 

[Bob Schafer]

Tom,

Boy oh boy, does THAT put things in perspective! Your post reminds me of how we should all be thankful for all the things, great and small, that we have. I hope that is not a depressing thought for you! LOL! Actually, I bet many of us would kill to be there on long, cold, hard winter nights.

 

[afischer]

I've only chased Arkansas once... but I can say that areas around Monticello were somewhat poor w.r.t. visibility.

http://www.tornadohead.com/chases/132-3280_imgA.jpg

 

[Chris Hayes]

I've only chased Arkansas once... but I can say that areas around Monticello were somewhat poor w.r.t. visibility.

http://www.tornadohead.com/chases/132-3280_imgA.jpg
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I've chase in Oklahoma, Kansas, TX Panhandle, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, SE SD, and SW MO. In my opinion, the worst chase territory by far is eastern Oklahoma, and southern MO. Those places are nightmares for chasing due to trees and hills.

 

[Simon Brewer]

South Central MO and North Central AR are probably the worst areas to chase in close to "Tornado Alley", but I think Central and North Central Illinois is the best area I've ever chased......incredible road network combined with non-stop farmland and good-sized cities for internet access and after chase dining.

 

[Patrick Kerrin]

Here in Ontario (if anyone cares lol) the Niagara escarpment is horrible to chase in. Last year we headed out towards the Hamilton area, what a mistake that was! You literally need to stay on the hwy to see anything half decent. Lots of trees, hills, and poor road options. From now I am just gonna stick to areas W, NW and SW of the Waterloo area. Or even better, why don't I just forget this place and head to the plains?
[/b]

Hey Laura - I'll up that a little. I generally won't chase east of Brantford - Woodstock - Stratford line. Just awful!!!

 

[Jeremy Lemanski]

I have a good and bad area at the same time. Michigan has some good areas and many bad areas to chase. Go north of Saginaw far and hit massive forests. You have the metro areas to deal with, plus trees also in the lower part of the state.

That said, i have a good area in Tuscola/Sanilac/Huron county to target. Its very flat and treeless for michigan standards and also the roads run in nice grid patterns, with many country roads being in decent conditions. Its one of the reason i love staying near home if there is a risk of severe weather, i know i will be able to see the storm and be able to get around without having to worry about running into dead ends roads.

That said, what puts a big dent into this is Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. If you have a storm moving NE out of Saginaw county, It ends up over the bay and then into lake huron, leaving you watching for a distance. you can only follow storms for a pretty short distance before coming to Lake Huron.
Of course, there are times the Lake Saves the day, in cases where lake breezes provide a trigger or provide enough shear to drop a tornado, as was the case in 2004 right near the lakeshore.

I think everyone in every state and every place on this earth has his or her Bad areas anf good areas, some are just bigger and more well known then others.

 

[Justin Turcotte]

I pondered this question thinking about areas that have a reasonable frequency of tornadoes and also have lousy terrain/roads/viewing. A few places came to mind: Southeast OK, the west side of the Apps (WV, PA, KY, TN), and northern MN/WI. Northern MN/WI will generally see a couple tornadoes each year. Lots of lakes, trees, critters, and lousy road options. Falling trees are an added safety concern. Main routes tend to have a clearing on either side to prevent trees from falling on the road. Not so nice on secondary routes. I'm actually eagerly waiting for the next trees chase set-up. Would make for some cool pics if you can find the right spot.

 

[Tim Gonyo]

I must say that Wisconsin is awesome for chasing as long as you stay SE of a line from Green Bay to Portage to Madison to Monroe. NW of that line is trees, hills, and chasing nuisances!

 

[J West]

I must say that Wisconsin is awesome for chasing as long as you stay SE of a line from Green Bay to Portage to Madison to Monroe. NW of that line is trees, hills, and chasing nuisances!
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I used to think that too, until I started chasing in IA and IL B)

Only good thing about WI is native knowledge of the roads. I generally refer to the triangle from FDL-MSN-MKE as the convective-free zone.

 

[Brian Stertz]

E. Arkansas has often been the secret of Jason Politte and Scott Blair...I was sold on it long ago...just as long as it was east of US 67. I gets pretty rugged once you get out west of Searcy and my favorite town Oil Trough AR. Glad to see Karen is now too a believer in that part of the country being a truly viable chase option. I like the Greenville MS area too...very chaseable as long as flooded roads aren't an issue.

As far as horrible chase areas in "tornado alley", things get very rough across the Ozarks. Windy roads, dense forests, people that time forgot, and banjo music.