Storm Chasing In The Tri-State (Part 1 Pre-Planning)

Drake and I thought that a structured multi-part series would be a nice addition to the blog.  Spotting/Chasing severe thunderstorms is a different animal for most regions east of the confluence of the Mississippi River and Ohio Rivers.  That said, by no means are we guru's on how to tackle the complexity of problems encountered in the field.  It's different every time we go out.  With a good understanding of how weather works and proper planning a team can be successful in this area.  You just gotta know what you can and can't get away with.  If you're like me you'll have to take some hard knocks and fail a few times before you finally figure that out.





Planning a day of storm chasing starts days in advance.  Sometimes on a rare occasion maybe even as far out as a week.  Social Media will be buzzing with phases such as "Major Tornado Outbreak" and "Millions Under Threat".  Planning is a huge part in being successful in any part of the country.   As you'll see, planning to be in the right area at the right time takes a lot work. If your are not looking at Area Forecast Discussions (AFD) or the Storm Predictions Center's severe weather outlook everyday during the peak spring and fall seasons you're already behind the curve. The information put out will give you a foundation to build on and a heads up to the big picture of what might unfold in the coming days.  Personally I don't get too involved or wrapped up into looking at all the models 4-7 days out.  I look them over real quick but I'm not going spend hours trying to figure it out.  Generally there will be 1000's of Social Media posts on what the models are saying during the lead up.  By the time it's 2 to 3 days out chances are all the information you were looking at the past 3 days is totally different from what you're seeing on day 2-3.  Granted the area and timing will shift around from day to day but, I spend most of my time doing reconnaissance of the road network and terrain that might be encountered days in advance.  Especially in areas that I'm not familiar with.  You might ask how can you do that?  Well, we're going to show you how to see what the area looks like without even leaving the house.




Here's one trick that I have been using since I started chasing.  Google Maps gives you the ability to see in detail the road network and terrain like never before.  Without getting in a car you can gather information on what kind of roads you might be on and the viewing area you will have.  Granted it won't tell you if there is corn or beans planted but it pretty damn good.  I use this planning technique every time we plan on chasing and area we are unfamiliar with.  We don't actually plot viewing points on a map (you can if you want) but it gives you a good overall mental picture of the region.

That said, it will also help in picking out which routes are good or bad.  By clicking the satellite tab in the lower left hand corner will give you a picture of the density of vegetation and urban areas.  You can easily see the difference between open fields, dense forests and population centers.  The lower right hand corner contains the gem.  If you left click and hold you can drag the little man over a road and drop him where you want him.  In a pop up window you will see the "ground truth" of what you can really see from a vantage point.  Having this knowledge will pay off big time in the field while route planning on chase day.  That little man is an incredible tool to use and gives you the ability to recon and area without oven leaving your house.  Best of all it's free!!!!


Now here's a few tips that might blow some of you away.....  If you think you might be chasing in a couple of days now is the time to make sure all you gear works.  If you run a computer while you chase, test out you wireless network to make sure everything works.  I usually get everything that I'm going to use up and running and make it runs flawlessly.  If you stream live video make sure all the settings are right and test out your feed.  Check out all the batteries for cameras that you are going to take with you and make sure that everything is charged 100%  How bad would it be if a tornado finally forms and your "EPIC" footage is lost due to a dead battery.  Next, vehicle maintenance.  If you're like me, my day to day vehicle is my chase vehicle.  No fancy armored truck with little spinner thingies and rain buckets mounted on top.  Here's some questions you need to ask yourself.   Do you need and oil change?  Tires OK?  How about those old windshield wipers?  Personally I will not chase with substandard wipers.  If you can see where you're going or what you're looking at you might as well stay home.  Get the best wipers you can afford.  Lastly, have the spotter hotline numbers for the weather forecast office (WFO) areas you plan on chasing.  Have them programmed into your cell phone so they are easily accessible.   Remember, your timely report could save lives.

In Part 2 we'll get into the actually "Day Of" planning aspects of chasing in the Tri-State area and the do and don'ts of supercells and squall lines.