My hopes for chasing tomorrow are diminishing, but I do have some ideas!
I have yet to see any chasers do an authoritative video or video series on maneuvering and positioning. Not just simple rules, like being in the notch to see the tornado in an HP (something new chasers shouldn't be doing anyway), but things like: where to set up for the day, how to move toward storms while preserving options, how to maneuver around storms, how and when to maneuver through storms, how and when to disengage and get home.
I think a good series on these questions would show people what they can expect to see when they're engaging in these decisions, e.g. what it's like to drive through the forward flank, what it's like to drive through that crashing cold front (people should do this less often in my opinion), what it's like to approach a storm of a certain type from a certain direction, what are the signs you should move, etc.
I remember my first time coming up to a big supercell: I needed to get closer, but it was a large, dark, imposing mass, my only roads in were dirt, and everything below the meso looked like soupy haze. So I chickened out and moved onto the next storm. In reality, the roads were dry and the haze would have dissipated had I moved in closer. The storm was moving fairly slowly northeast and I had plenty of room to escape on a well-maintained grid. This sort of foreknowledge would be a great benefit to new chasers, especially those that start out alone, which is unfortunately the case for a lot of people.
My hopes for chasing tomorrow are diminishing, but I do have some ideas!
I have yet to see any chasers do an authoritative video or video series on maneuvering and positioning. Not just simple rules, like being in the notch to see the tornado in an HP (something new chasers shouldn't be doing anyway), but things like: where to set up for the day, how to move toward storms while preserving options, how to maneuver around storms, how and when to maneuver through storms, how and when to disengage and get home.
I think a good series on these questions would show people what they can expect to see when they're engaging in these decisions, e.g. what it's like to drive through the forward flank, what it's like to drive through that crashing cold front (people should do this less often in my opinion), what it's like to approach a storm of a certain type from a certain direction, what are the signs you should move, etc.
I remember my first time coming up to a big supercell: I needed to get closer, but it was a large, dark, imposing mass, my only roads in were dirt, and everything below the meso looked like soupy haze. So I chickened out and moved onto the next storm. In reality, the roads were dry and the haze would have dissipated had I moved in closer. The storm was moving fairly slowly northeast and I had plenty of room to escape on a well-maintained grid. This sort of foreknowledge would be a great benefit to new chasers, especially those that start out alone, which is unfortunately the case for a lot of people.