Would you still chase if...

[Mike Marz]

I think on a certain level this kind of scenario happened on the El Reno day back in 2013. I mean, it wasn't guaranteed that a tornado would for sure touch down in an exact spot, but for the most part, everyone on that day knew, and it's not like the target area was huge or crowded with storms to chose from. That being said, I would still want to see tornadoes, absolutely, but it wouldn't really be called chasing tornadoes anymore. I agree with most people that the hunt and difficulty are part of the allure, but I also will never get sick of seeing a tornado, regardless of how easy it eventually gets.

 

[Caleb Grunzke]

Yes, because that would be the only way I would get a tornado...

I'm just kidding. I probably wouldn't. Knowing that you could watch a huge tornado plow through a town would be dreadful and wrong. Plus, where is the fun in knowing you will see something.

This is what it should read...completely contradicted myself...

 

[Bob Schafer]

Heck yeah I would still chase, except maybe then "chase" is the wrong word. I still buy tickets to concerts and sporting events even though I don't have a challenge to find the venue, lol. Different strokes for different folks, but I can do without the challenge of getting to the right place. Why do you think I use all the tech at my disposal? If I want a challenge I'll dump GRL3, sell my laptop, and go back to chasing "TWC's Red Zone"! As for the (even bigger) crowds, well, yeah that would suck, and would alter my strategy somehow.

People ask me why I chase (another thread). Happened again a couple weeks ago. I never use the word "challenge" in my explanation. I just want to see the greatest spectacle on earth, and to me a tornadic supercell is it.

 

[StephenHenry]

Been stuck miserable and sick at home for nearly a week. Really liked this idea, and it made me wonder what a chase log would look like in this kind of future. I had some time on my hands so...

Stephens Storm Log – Feb 7, 2115
Jul-13-2114-2122: Ugh, January looks like fronts scouring Mississippi Bay all the way down to the New GoM. #HateWinter
Aug-15-2114-1344: The 2015 season looks to start off slow, but there are some hints of a nice February system in the global models.
Feb-1-2115-1803: Woohoo 18z HypeRRR, look at that 0-10m updraft helicity for Feb 7!! #TOG
Feb-1-2115-1818: Albuquerque to Topeka hyperloop booked for next week! #BlaineThePain
Feb-7-2115-1900: Leaving work now for a tornado later today. Watch my eyestream at 2247z this afternoon! #drillbit
Feb-7-2115-2011: Just arrived in Topeka. I like these smaller hubs cause there’s always a chance you can snag a human-drivable car.
Feb-7-2115-2017: Dang it! No luck. Stuck being driven by Uber again. #ToTheStormJeeves
Feb-7-2115-2027: Blasting west down X-70 towards Salina. Scrubbing the last few model runs looking for a good viewing position. VR headsets always make me sick in cars.
Feb-7-2115-2045: Models look to be holding up – dominant TOR of the day 18,000 meters east of Salina at 2245z (couple minutes earlier than previously progged). Great chase country down in the old District 11 GPS agrigrid network, not a building in its path.
Feb-7-2115-2103: Arrived in Salina already. Still have nearly 2 hours to wait. #bored
Feb-7-2115-2122: The 2110z and 2115z HypeRRR runs have trended toward a more multivortex tornado (no wrapping rain, thank goodness). What do you bet the pansy Wichita NWS sets the exclusion zone to 400m???
Feb-7-2115-2131: Found a good spot about 200m from the 99%-hatched damage path. It’s already becoming a circus, so for once I’m glad to have Uber managing the traffic. NWS should be coming out with their exclusion zone warning in about 20 minutes.
Feb-7-2115-2135: GOES-U just picked up our storm’s towering cu!! #Verfying
Feb-7-2115-2143: I still don’t know why people bother dropping camera probes in the tornado path. Super boring footage. Oh well I can’t talk, I walk out and chucked a GoPro into the path myself. With its Return-to-Home feature, it’d be a waste not to use it.
Feb-7-2115-2147: MOTHERF*****@!@! 500-METER EXCLUSION ZONE IS THE NWS NUTS??? This thing will be cat 3.7 at best. They always play things so damned cautiously.
Feb-7-2115-2151: Mass traffic pandemonium as everyone backs up to comply with the exclusion zone. #ThanksObama #FlyingCarsNowPlease
Feb-7-2115-2203: Jeez, now they’re e-verifying everyone’s chase credentials. You expect this in OKC, but Salina??!!
Feb-7-2115-2205: Our storm went severe cat 1.3!!!!! Anvil overhead!
Feb-7-2115-2218: Drones overhead as thick as mosquitoes now. Settle down guys it’s just the FFD, can’t even seen the base yet.
Feb-7-2115-2225: T-minus 30 minutes!!! Last several HypeRRR runs have converged on a nice cone solution! Looking very photogenic in the model viewer. #Tubegenesis
Feb-7-2115-2237: Decent rain and hail falling out of the forward flank now with some nice positive strikes out of the anvil as well. Everyone and their mom seems to have a nano-RaXpol on their roof today. Not complaining, the mesh-radar resolution has been great.
Feb-7-2115-2238: Silhouette of a wallcloud on the horizon emerging from the rain!! Guys check out my eyestream in another 5 minutes!!
Feb-7-2115-2240: Wallclound continues to look better. Tail cloud feeding in from the north. Thunder is continuous almost sounds like jet engines!!!
Feb-7-2115-2242: Rapid circulation. Tornado imminent!! I still wouldn't mind being a few hundred yards closer but this view is amazing. I can’t believe I was sitting at my desk in ABQ just a few hours ago!!! #Lucky
Feb-7-2115-2245: Coming up on closest approach, STILL NO TOG. WTF Rain is in the RFD as well. This was not forecast.
Feb-7-2115-2246: Still nothing!
Feb-7-2115-2247: Wallcloud is pulling away now, about a mile to my north. No Tornado and rain is wrapping around!!! #NoReallyThanksObama
Feb-7-2115-2248: ARE. YOU. FREAKING. KIDDING. ME?!?!?! That wasn’t thunder earlier, it was suppressor jets hosing down the mesocyclone. #ChaseCalled
Feb-7-2115-2255: Yep got confirmation, they definitely hosed the meso. Still not sure why, as nothing was progged to be damaged.
Feb-7-2115-2345: Well, I’m making my way back home after this pretty disappointing bust. Reading the AFD’s little more carefully, it appears that at the last minute some of the more experimental NWS models were having trouble nailing down the sub-vortex-level intensity metrics. Being overly cautious, they decided to squash the tornado before it even got started. Ugh. Just goes to show you – with all the technology at our fingertips, it’s still the little uncertainties and details that can make or break a chase. All part of the fun and adventure, I guess.

 

[Jeremy Perez]

@StephenHenry that is really good. Sheesh, somebody frame that & pin it up somewhere.

(Not surprised to see that lack of flying cars is still a meme in a hundred years )

I'd still go to witness the spectacle of supercell and tornado, but it wouldn't generate the sense of excitement, suspense and accomplishment that not-knowing brings about. A lot like others have said: it would be like going to see Old Faithful or similar, but on a more magnificent scale.

 

[Todd Lemery]

Stephen Henry made me laugh my ass off.. 4:37P.M. only have twelve more minutes to flip the burgers. 4:50 P.M. Burgers were great, loved the fresh lettuce. 5:01 P.M. What the hell was that???? I waited all day for a two minute rain wrapped pile of buffalo dung??? I spent six hours camped outside a Walmart in slum lick Oklahoma, drinking melting slurpees for this?
Well, I'm happy anyway cause I got to see my rain wrapped dust devil with my new 3D $3,000 dollar camcorder. There's no way I won't be able to sell it to the 7th grade science class for a free car wash at the annual fundraiser. Yay! Life is good!

 

[Ty Traphagen]

I would. I really like the thought of doing all of the driving, forecasting, etc, though.

 

[Paul Knightley]

Fun question, even if we know it's never going to come true!

The main reason I chase is the visual feast that supercells provide - the tornado can be the icing on this. Forecasting their occurrence is a means to an end (an enjoyably frustrating one!). If I knew where one would occur and the circumstances of its appearance (i.e. the supercell's overall structure and lighting would need to be predicted too) I could position perfectly for the best view, or perhaps for a more unusual view.

So, yes, I would still chase!

 

[rdale]

we know it's never going to come true!

What do you mean? AccuWeather is doing this already

http://www.mikesmithenterprisesblog.com/2015/03/a-six-hour-tornado-forecast.html

What a joke. Sadly they tried it again over the weekend, and where they predicted a tornado -- there wasn't even a shower.

 

[Paul Knightley]

A model version of a tornado watch!

 

[Shane Adams]

No.

For the same reasons I don't take selfies, wish people "happy birthday", or celebrate holidays.

 

[Mike Tobin]

I will watch and chase until the day i die. Nothing will take the rush away from chasing.

 

[Marcus Diaz]

So there was a lot of good replies in this thread. Surprised to see the results. So to those that said they would chase...are you not concerned about chasing becoming something where you're charged admission to see a tornado? If tornadoes pose a threat to population, would you be worried about officials inventing some sort of deterrent? Would you feel bad that inventing a supercomputer could save many lives, but essentially kill off some of the fun and adventure of chasing?

 

[Mike Stropkovic Jr]

This scenario reminds me of what bowling is like for me: stupid easy but I still love to do it for some reason. That said, it seems like with that kind of accuracy I would be more concerned with being mugged in the parking lot than any danger posed by the storm. I imagine someday in the future we'll have a storm that kills nobody, but a dozen people die in car crashes on their way to go see it.