STORM CHASE TOURS: A DAY ON TOUR

 

Near Almena, Kansas June 5, 1999

A lot of people have asked me what it is like on a typical tour day. Well, my first response is there are no two days alike! I'll give you two examples, one for a local tour, and another for a longer tour across the plains.   "Thank you for providing us with such an exciting and wonderful tour of Tornado Alley. It was expertly and safely driven and with a wealth of information about the weather systems we encountered. Roger, we especially enjoyed your teaching each morning, which added tremendously to the experience of the tours. We truly enjoyed seeing SUPERCELLS and lightning storms, experiencing the different climates and geographies of the Alley and not to forget the great company and friends we made on the tour." Bernt Rostad, Norway"

 

 

Local tours: If you live in Colorado or want to chase in the local area, it is quite simple. I will let each person know 24 hours ahead of time if the next day looks like a chase day, where it will be, what to expect and set up a meeting time and place. The day of the chase, we will usually meet pretty early in the morning, depending on how far we have to drive. I will conduct a weather briefing, and give details on where we will be (as conditions change constantly!), what type of weather to expect (i.e. supercells with a good tornado threat, or large hail, squall line, etc) and when we expect to be back that night. Then we load up everyone and their gear and depart for our target chase area. We will usually arrive before storms form and set up to constantly check data to refine our target as needed. When signs of storm initiation are present we will get into position to watch storms form, from birth to death. I will also teach you how to read a storm and to be able to identify what is happening with the storm. After we are done chasing, we will drive back to Denver and drop everyone off at their vehicles or meet their parties to go home. Pretty simple huh? Keep in mind it doesn't always work that easy. The atmosphere has a way of throwing wrenches into the mix quite often, and it is my job to make sure we don't get derailed by that wrench!!!

Long tours across the plains (either on-call or scheduled): I am up early on the long tours or the on-call tours to analyze data and establish our target area. Usually around 8 AM I ask everyone to be ready to depart and to come to my hotel room, or the hotel lobby for a weather briefing. I will conduct Weather 101 as time and conditions allow. Depending on how much of a rush we are in (in other words, how far we have to drive), we may have breakfast together or jump in the vans immediately to head to our target area. Then we drive, sometimes as much as 500 miles to get into position for storm initiation. Remember, peak time for storm initiation is 4-6 PM so it is imperative we arrive ON TIME!!! Often times our target area needs to be refined as conditions change throughout the day. I am constantly analyzing data as we head to our target area so we do not get caught off guard. Finally, we arrive and chase the storm, always trying to stay ahead of it to give us the best vantage point we can have. Then after the storm dies, we will find our hotel (depending on how close we are to the next day's target area) and sleep. The next day we get up and start the whole process all over again. Nonstop fun and action!!! I promise you will NEVER be bored with the daily routine.