At home again after yesterday's cap bust in Eastern Nebraska. The bust chase fell well short of my longest bust of 1,800 plus miles, but still ran over 1,000 (1188 total). My Mayathon surpassed 5,500 miles with this trip; expecting to close in on 7,500 by the end of the week. With chasing lined up over the next 3 days at least, I would imagine mileage racking up quickly in smaller chunks as targets get closer to home.
Today was a quick trip; CU towers went up along the foothills, but quickly were buried beneath the cap over the Plains. We met with Verne Carlson in Brighton for dinner and discussion over today's chances and tomorrow's setup. We then separated, Verne heading east to check towers which eventually lead to severe warnings in Fort Morgan; I retired home to my girlfriend and the pool for the evening. Jeff and crew played with some convection near Cheyenne, Wyoming; nothing which amounted to much, I think. I haven't gotten in touch with them since one of our phones died, but I imagine they set up camp someplace close by. Jon and I will get in touch with them tomorrow as we finalize our targets.
As for tomorrow, I told Jon to call me in the morning when he was up and around. I figure to be on the road around noonish, heading east on I-70 for someplace near Watkins/Byers. The DCVZ should set up tomorrow, kicking off storms and then we ride them out east throughout the day. I am going to glance over models tonight, but Colorado setups are usually pretty basic; its just a matter of figuring out what time to be where. From there, it's usually a beautiful day.
Tuesday holds a similar setup to Monday's; the only difference being where we could be starting from. If Monday's storms lead to a nighttime MCS with good lightning (or something chasable well after dark), we'll end up pretty far from Denver; far enough to warrent an overnight stay elsewhere. Pending Tuesday's setup, it may be logical just to stay out overnight and readjust from there in the morning. Again, not looking at much detail, its hard to calculate such a plan.
Wednesday and beyond look interesting, but hard to comment about them just yet. Over the weekend is the picnic in Wakita which I am going to attend barring any chasable weather. I'm hopeful for a setup which leads us there Friday and maybe something to catch coming home Sunday/Monday.
A "debate" in Stormtrack has opened up; part of it I commented on in my last blog entry. This time, armchair chasers took a couple swings at field chasers after our cap bust yesterday. It's hard to explain,
but here's the thread to read up. I was one of the first to reply, but probably should've waited til I had my reply better formed in my head. I knew what I wanted to say, but early morning typing and a bit of a rush left me from hitting it how I wanted. I did take some backlash from my comments and of course, had many things turned against me, including my lottery comment (in reply to a post by another chaser). Basically, a bunch of chasers went out and busted, and those that stayed home (including the internet chaser who started this) basically thought we were chasing a "gorgeous setup" that was ruined by a cap we did not see. Obviously the cap was in my eyes cause I was hoping it would hold up long enough to let Jon and I get out there yesterday. Obviously it became too well held.
I guess the anger from people towards the comments thrown out was that we chase; bust or bang. The what-ifs come out of every scenario chasing offers, whether it's good or bad. IF the cap had broken, gorgeous supercells, some tornadoes, good weather for chasers. Never ONCE did I say "major outbreak" or "mega tornadoes". Perhaps somewhere somebody did, but those words never flew from my mouth. I thought it looked to be a good day; had a respectable cap, but as I also defended, so did
May 10, and that broke! Even Amos on the 10th joked about Verne not wasting his time coming out because of the thermonuclear cap. While that happens rarely, thermonuclear caps do get broken sometimes; you just never know.
As for comments on wasting gas and money... well, it depends.. I'm not sure what armchair/internet chasers think is wasting money. Personally, I think someone who virtually chases from the comfort of their desks and maybe goes out once in a while because things look like a 90% chance oughta shut up immediately. They can say whatever they want, but until they chase a few times in a year (chasing = leaving their home town to chase a storm more than once), they're not going to have enough grounds to stand on to make a decision. Most people who busted yesterday knew the odds weren't good; myself included, but because the slim chance was there, we went out. So what, I threw away 1100 miles and 4 tanks of gas; its what I do! Its what I WORK FOR; remember, I took 3 weeks off with money set aside to chase every day those three weeks. Yeah, I admit, had this been a marathon type of chase not in a planned vacation, I may've backed out cause of the distance; but take that same setup and same results 200 miles further west, I would've chased it indefinately. But its my CHASE VACATION, which means, I chase the best setup for the day; either that or I stay home in Denver. Slim chances justify me being out, its why I'm not working real jobs through May.
See folks, particularly those who chase from computers and have NO idea what it is to really chase, the weather isn't always the driving force. Sure, we wouldn't drive 1000 miles to throw a frisbee in some farmer's field off a dirt road near a town called Wahoo. I promise you, I'd rather do that in the field behind my complex. But you do have to understand, storm chasing is more than weather, and I won't preach again on the value of friends, road trips, food, etc. If you don't leave your house to chase storms, you're missing the entire point. Half of the Stormtrack members have never once left their 20 mile comfort bubble to chase a storm, and
most of this crap stirred up is
probably from them. I cannot say that for sure, and I'm likely to be wrong, but the person whom started the above linked thread; well, no website, no REPORTS other than a dust devil thingie; as far as I can see, this person hasn't chased a single storm. I'm probably wrong, but I would be willing to bet 1100 miles of gas that they've never round tripped a chase of more than 200 miles. And until they prove me wrong, I'll gonna tell them to shove it; cause until they experience the other side of chasing, they have no grounds to rant on us for our "bad" choices. And BTW, if you have chased more than 200 miles in a single trip, I'll drive 1100 miles.. oh wait, just did! ;o)
And as I thought about it on my long trip back home after yesterday's bust, I realized... there are very few people who chase seriously and enjoy it.. and I'm talking those that log 10,000 miles a year; travel to every state they can reach to chase... not many do that... and as far as I'm concerned, we deserve a little bragging. Okay, so we busted huge cause we wasted gas on a trip to nowhere. I wasted a bunch of time and money traveling to a remote place in the country that I would never go otherwise. I ate at a Subway in Central City, Nebraska and was given 2 free cookies; I saw a ton of hot chicks in Nebraska from towns where the population doesn't exceed 3 digits; I got to shoot the breeze with friends I get to see only a couple weeks out of the year; I played football and frisbee in a field and burned off all that Subway I ate earlier... what did you do? Sit around on your ass staring at a computer screen watching the bust unfold virtually! Hmm... be out and about... sitting on my ass...
Who really wasted their time?
If you think chasing is all about the weather, you need to get your nose out of books and your fingers off the mouse and hit the field on a semi-regular basis.. you'll quickly see why we go on long shots... if the weather doesn't reward us, something else will..
And to comment on the drop the faith, pick up a science book... excuse me, but science doesn't explain everything.. tell me kid, why do some storms produce tornadoes and other don't. You find me a science book which explains that, I'll buy into your theory. Unfortuantely, our science doesn't begin to explain what goes on in the atmosphere... yeah, sometimes red flags, neon lights, and dancing bears (Amos likes the dancing bears) scream bust, and we go out. And we bust... most of the time... 10% of the time, we score... and sometimes we score BIG! 1 out of 10, not too bad considering the world's greatest minds still can't predict exactly where and when a tornado will strike... where's your science book now? Yeah, the books hold a good outline; teach you about what goes on, but I have yet to see a situation unfold where I was able to determine the outcome exactly as a book predicted; sure, they get it close, but can you pull up a book that gives you values and then you tell me exactly what'll happen. I think my faith in nature has better stats than most science books.. by the way, this was the year's first bust for me, and I've chased pretty hard so far this season.
And finally, to comment on being pompous and egotistical... I have the time, money, and ability to go out and do what I love! I get to roam the country and chase after the weather. People would KILL to be able to do what they absolutely love; to be able to pursue a passion freely. As far as I'm concerned, that in itself allows me to have an ego. I can do my dream, bang or bust. Not everyone can do that, whatever their dream is... and if you can, I think you deserve a hint of ego; you made it happen for yourself, then you deserve credit, regardless of the outcome! That may sound pretty self-centered, but ya know, I work my ass off to get myself in the field year after year, and whether I bang or bust, I'm there cause I made it happen. You have a problem with my ego, you can shove it... I work damn hard to get myself out there, and regardless of what happens, I still come back happy! You damn right I'll be pompous about it! :o)
So yeah, my two-cents as I've had some time to think. This is my passion, bang or bust, and I'm damn proud of the fact that I can get out and do it as often as I do. I'm sorry if our choices to you seem dumb because of some numbers nature gave us... but since you obviously have no understanding of where I and many other real chasers come from, you should probably refrain from downplaying our choices on impossible days. Nine times out of ten, we'll have this outcome, but you damn well better believe egos will be flying on that one time cause we saw it and you didn't! But even of those nine busts, eight of those leave with me something I never would've had if I hadn't gone out. Maybe you think we're reaching for something good in a very bad situation, but to me, I was out there; enough for me to be happy about. I'm thinking I speak for a few chasers out there when I say all of this. So next time you decide to open your mouth, quit wasting time picking us apart and come out and bust with us... maybe then, you'll understand what I'm talking about. If you don't, then you should really find something more productive to do with your time...
