Worst places to chase?

[Bob Schafer]

Hilliness of terrain would be a great item to include, but currently I don’t know how best to get data for that and incorporate it.

I don't know how you incorporate it into your mapping needs, but if you want to know if an area is hilly or not, just look at the secondary roads. Are they straight or curvy? That'll tell you right there.

 

[Quincy Vagell]

Do not chase in Southern Indiana, Southwestern Wisconsin/Northwestern Illinois/Eastern Iowa, or the Western Arkansas/Eastern OK mountain areas, or the Northern Arkansas/Southern Missouri Ozarks.

Outside of the far southeastern corner of Indiana, it's a mess. I found myself struggling there this past Sunday. Either hilly terrain with no visibility or urban areas with slow traffic. Not to mention lots of trees, so I had to make detours (wind damage), and cell service was horrible.

 

[Tim Paitz]

I cut my teeth chasing in West Virginia and southwestern PA, so I always get a chuckle out of states like Missouri getting a bad rap. Bad terrain areas can be doable if you stick to major four-lane highways and interstates. Usually those are cleared out enough for at least intermittent good views. Once you venture onto a two-lane in those places, you're in an unbroken tree canopy.

Jeremy Perez has a thread on this subject with some good maps here:
http://stormtrack.org/community/threads/us-chase-map-project.28377/



FWIW, I've seen 8 tornadoes in that zone along the Mississippi River in MO and IL.

Dan, if you go far enough east outside the St. Louis area, then it's a lot better. However, based on what I've seen growing up in the country many of the rivers and creeks have trees lining them (Silver Creek especially) so it's better to stay a little farther away from them. Many of the west suburbs of Missouri are quite hilly and there's a bit of a problem with all the rivers (and it's quite forested as well). Then there's the road network......

 

[John Olexa]

I cut my teeth chasing in West Virginia and southwestern PA, so I always get a chuckle out of states like Missouri getting a bad rap. Bad terrain areas can be doable if you stick to major four-lane highways and interstates. Usually those are cleared out enough for at least intermittent good views. Once you venture onto a two-lane in those places, you're in an unbroken tree canopy

Ditto that here in MD as well.

 

[Quincy Vagell]

Outside of the far southeastern corner of Indiana, it's a mess. I found myself struggling there this past Sunday. Either hilly terrain with no visibility or urban areas with slow traffic. Not to mention lots of trees, so I had to make detours (wind damage), and cell service was horrible.

I meant southwestern corner!

 

[Michael Snyder]

Do not chase in Southern Indiana, Southwestern Wisconsin/Northwestern Illinois/Eastern Iowa, or the Western Arkansas/Eastern OK mountain areas, or the Northern Arkansas/Southern Missouri Ozarks.

I chased into Cherryville, MO in 2010, actually caught a Tornado, but we couldn't see anything coming up on the cells, probably passed within half a mile of the tornado (EF-0) and didn't even know it until we got passed it, made it up a hill and then turned back towards it and then realized there was a tornado. We passed back through the area and saw the tree damage across the road. I was on chasecation though and didn't have any other option but to chase or go home. Flew out of STL back to Seattle the next day.

So yea, chasing the Ozarks = Bad

 

[Quincy Vagell]

I've had mixed success, but generally bad luck in parts of North Texas and Texas Hill Country. Mainly due to surprisingly poor cell service through Verizon, but also a spotty road network and challenging terrain.

 

[Paul Knightley]

I found the hilly area between Wichita Falls and Mineral Wells, TX, very frustrating last year. Quite of a lot of trees, not many places to stop, and too many hills in the way! Of course, perseverance is key and we eventually found a nice overlook from which to witness a supercell.

 

[TJ Schulte]

Going opposite here but NW Ohio is awesome for storm chasing. Completely flat and mostly rural with lots of fields. Sadly we don't get the tornadic activity that the west does but I've always loved chasing out here

 

[Josh Frank]

I would say that SW Wisconsin is pretty bad. Especially north of the Military ridge and near the Mississippi. Also the kettle Moraine is too as it is about the equivalent of The Wisconsin version of the Appalachians tree and terrain wise. South Central around Madison isn't too bad like on the Arlington Prairie and around Randolph/Cambria.

 

[Robert Forry]

Pretty much all areas north of M10 in Lower Michigan and all of the Upper Peninsula.

 

[Josh Frank]

In Wisconsin I would say SW Wisconsin north of the military ridge,SE Wisconsin east of the Oconomowoc area,Madison, and Everything north of 29, Juneau,Wood,Adams,Marquette,Jackson,Clark,and Waushara counties are also pretty bad too.South Central isn't too bad of an area. Neither is the agricultural belt around 29.

 

[Steve Miller]

Southwest Arkansas. Woof!

 

[Cory Davis]

East Texas the longview area where i am originally from is bad good road network but way to many trees and hills so getting a good shot of anything does not work at all.

 

[Mark Blue]

SE KS was mentioned above, which I think is a really good place to chase. Iola, Chanute, Pittsburg, Fredonia, Coffeeville, and Independence are all towns or small cities in the area we've been through several times.

SW SD on the reservation can be tricky as the road network is sparse. Extreme NE NM, or immediately west of the OK panhandle seems to be a dead zone for cellular signals with the curvy roads @Bob Schafer mentioned. SE MT seems to be wide open country, but again a sparse road network and lack of signal made it a challenge last time we chased there.