Whats your tornado count in your chasing career?

[Marko Korosec]

Hey guys,

I thought this might be an interesting topic, since I am sure everyone is counting how many of tornado you observed in specific day, month or year. I found one similar topic which covered number in a specific year, but I am wondering about numbers in your whole chasing career.
Guess numbers might be different since some people are counting all touchdowns and others counting just one tornado per the same mesocyclone.

Well I am looking for your interesting numbers.

[Shane Adams]

I know this is a wildy-unpopular topic, but I'm a stats guy so I'll play along.

92

[Gaetan Cormier]

OK just for a good laugh here's my count since 2000

Possibly 1 touch down ... it was at night and there's no way to really confirm the touchdown hehe. But I'm going in the plains this summer for a late season chase, so who knows that number might change ;)

[Tony Laubach]

51 as of now...

[Dan Robinson]

27.

That's my no-doubt-about-it-was-a-tornado count. There are a few more that were classified by chasers as tornadoes, but I didn't count them as I either didn't remember seeing it as a tornado at the time, or its identity was in question.

[JF Massicotte]

ZIP, ZERO, NADA


Still waiting for the ultimate encounter. But at about 5-6 / year where i come from it looks like I will have to wait some more...

I coming to chase Ap 29th to May 11th, how about my odds to get lucky??

[scott r currens]

1998 to 2003: 27
2004 to 2007: 88 (Insert add for WXWorx)
Total: 115

I know many chasers loathe tornado counting but I am not one of them. For whatever reason I like to keep detailed stats on all of my chases.

My stats page:
http://www.violentplains.com/Stats.htm

[Brian Stertz]

I've got no real numbers on this but it would rest somewhere between 100-150 tornadoes...with 1999 being my best year by far for tornadoes observed. I've really grown to like the forecasting aspect of chasing more and more through the years. I just have to keep my patience for later in the spring to save vacation days when we get into the for sure events.

[Karen Politte]

I'm not very competitive-natured so I do not count - it seems pointless to me. Past counting on any particular day (i.e. "I saw five tornadoes today!"), I really have no idea.

KL

[cedwards]

My best guess would have to be 150-200
I don't really keep count since sometimes it is hart to do so. and just going by someones count can be misleading. everybody counts in a different ways.
It is easy to keep count of the elephant trunks and wedges, but days like March 28th is a good example of a difficult count day. I saw at least 5 tornadoes. Looking back on the video I could probably make a good argument for around 15 if you count every time it visually dissipates and reforms. I know there are some people who do count that way, and there are others that only count one tornado per meso.

[Laura Duchesne]

I only keep stats just for my own personal history, seen about 7 since 1998, but most of it was real brief / weak. Hope to see more this year.

[nickgrillo]

2003 to April 2007: Approx 29

My score likely would have been higher by now if 2006 wasn't such a POS year for anything worthwhile in the spring.

[Jeff Snyder]

Here is a screen-grab from some stats I keep on my website:

http://www.tornadocentral.com/now/tornadostats.png

[fplowman]

Obviously im a newbie still.. lol

I have seen about 17 tornadoes maybe more. I dont really keep track as others do.

Ya know .. In all that excitement I lost count. Ya gotta ask yourself a question. Being that an F5 Tornado is the most powerful tornado in the world and can sweep you up clean off the face of the map.. You gotta ask yourself " Do you feel lucky punk? Well do ya? lol

Im the Dirty Harry of Storm Chasing.. :)

[Gabe Garfield]

I have seen somewhere between 45-50 tornadoes since I started chasing regularly in the year 2000. I am of the "one tornado per meso" persuasion, so I suppose my numbers would be a bit higher if I counted the "up and down" tornado situations.

2001 was the last year I got "goose-egged." It took me the better part of 3 chase seasons to see my first bonafide tornado (September 18, 2002 near Blackwell, OK). LOL I really had no idea what I was doing back then.

Off to a good start in 2007---hopefully, I'll be able to exceed my 2004 total (but that'll take some doing).

Gabe

[Brian Stertz]

I am of the school that a single tornado counted is with every individual tornado cycle (unless accompanied by a separate satellite or parasite tornado). So if you've got an occluding tornado northwest, and a new tornado forms on the typical southeast flank, this would be counted as 2 tornadoes. Not that I've been able to religiously keep up with my actual tornado count through the years, but this is my thinking of how to keep a solid tally.

[JF Massicotte]

I only keep stats just for my own personal history, seen about 7 since 1998, but most of it was real brief / weak. Hope to see more this year.

How many of them happened in Ontario? I think southern Ontario is a really good place for tornadoes except they are just not reported. Being from Montreal I am planning a few week ends down there.

[bvassmer]

I have seen 12 tornadoes total since moving to the plains in 2002. I have chased since 1999, but all those chases were in N IL, S WI - and there I saw no tornadoes.

Of those 12, 4 are from 2007, so I am off to a good year.

[Jay McCoy]

Like Charles said it depends on how you count them. I can say I saw at least 12 or so on 3-28 but thats not how I counted them. It has to be off the ground for at least a few minutes before I consider it another tornado. if it lifts up and drops again 15 seconds later to me thats the same tornado. The funnel has to dissapate for it to be another tornado (the way I count them) so I counted 6 that day.

Counting in that fashion I have 154 to date since 1985. I will say the past 10 years and especially the last 4-5 have been the best so far thanks to a huge increase in available data on the road. I have 55 tornados since 2004. It took me 18 years to get the 1st 100! The internet and cell/wifi connections have brought chasing into a whole new realm. back when I started you had the wx maps you got from the local NWS and whatever you could get off the car radio or Ham. it was mostly blind chasing. Overcast or tricky days were almost impossible to catch anything good. Cell phones back in the mid 90's helped with nowcasting and now with WxWorx and such you can go right to the storm in overcast or dark conditions. Much easier to chase today than 10 or 20 years ago. Targeting doesnt have to be so close and you can see whats happening over a much larger area and catch storms that blow up 100 miles away.

[Bob Schafer]

***67 (since June 10, 1999)

Triple red asterisk because ~third of those were gustnadoes, LOL. Until just a few years ago, I counted gustnadoes. I had been to a severe wx workshop early on where a presenting met said that gustnadoes are *real* tornadoes (honest). There is no way for me to go back and revise my count.

(Free tip for newbs!: The best way I know of to be scorned by vets is to count gustnadoes.)

Oh, I was also wondering... am I to assume from what some of you say that you would count only one tornado invof Mulvane on June 12, 2004?

[Paul Townsend]

1 - June 29, 2005 - far northern Watonwan County, just southwest of the southern tip of Lake Hanska. I am still mostly a blind chaser, that never has gone on a chase vacation, and only ambles out to the northeastern Plains on a 1 day jaunt. One of these days...

[Verne Carlson]

I'm someplace in the 60's - just keep a rough guestimate from year to year.

[Tarmo Tanilsoo]

From the time I started(in 2004) thunderstorm observations and therefore started giving more attention on weather: 0
There have been funnel clouds and shelf clouds though.

[Dan Robinson]

am I to assume from what some of you say that you would count only one tornado invof Mulvane on June 12, 2004?


Between this (just east of I-35):
http://stormhighway.com/june122004/june12dc4t.jpg

and this (just west of Mulvane):
http://stormhighway.com/june122004/june12mv4t.jpg

there was this for at least 10-15 minutes:
http://stormscenes.com/frames/ksn-061204b1.jpg

Although arguably from the same meso, it would be hard to argue that they were the same tornado.

[Jay McCoy]

The NWS counts them by tracks if I am not mistaken which means if one lifts off the ground and another drops 100 yards away they are seperate tornados. Thats not how I do it but I can see where they would have to count it that way to keep accurate count of the tracks. and possible damage.

if I counted that way I coulnd tell you how many I could easily add 100 to my count. I could add about 8 or so alone from 3-28-07. I just never liked to count the small skips a tornado may take while trying to really organize. LIke I said I prefer the funnel dissipate and a new one form before I count it as seperate tornado.

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Mine is around 20 maybe more. It is incredible that in 2007 I have seen 10 of those tornadoes!!!!!

[Jeremy Ludin]

I only have one under my belt, but I am also just fresh into my 2nd season of chasing. The tornado was spotted in Delavan, IL, although not reported. It appeared as a very weak, snake-like tube and was off across the field a ways. Many more to come!

[KMcCallister]

My favorite chase topic is back!!!!

I've seen somewhere between 40 and 4000 tornados, depending on counting method, photography standards, and the definition of tornado.

Just this morning, I chose to watch some old tornado video from 2001 and revise my total upwards by a factor of six. :)

Oh..I have missed this topic!

[Chris Hayes]

I've seen at least 10 tornados since I started chasing in 2002. Since I only have a couple weeks to chase per year, my count isn't as high as others. I saw 2 tornados in 2002, 1 in 2003, and 7 in 2004. I didnt see any in 2005 because of bad decisions, and didnt see any in 2006 because of the horrible pattern while I was on the plains. There have been a few instances where I think I might have seen a tornado, but I dont count them.

[John O'Keeffe]

In the two years I have been seriously chasing, I have seen about 20 tornadoes ranging from an F0 to an EF4. I am hoping to double that number by the end of 2007.

[afischer]

Just this morning, I chose to watch some old tornado video from 2001 and revise my total upwards by a factor of six. :)

I've seen at least 30 or 40... probably more. I tried to go back and review my Beloit KS multi-vortex tornado from 09/21/2006 in order to count the individual vortices as one tornado each... but I got so dizzy I fell out of my chair and hit my head on the coffee table. I'll try again in the morning.

[Doug Mitchell]

I have a habit of missing the big tornadofest days. I have 12 tornadoes on 7 tornado days.

[mrobinett]

Zero in two years of chasing the plains, of course those years were 2005 and 2006, nuff said, they were good freshman and sophomore years though.
Mike

[Rich Thompson]

How 'bout a different statistic:

great tornado days per year time
0.0 1985-89
1.2 1990-99
0.7 2000-07

My definition of "great" is entirely subjective and skewed to multiple visible tornadoes, "high-end" events, or days that exceeded my expectations. The curious thing is that I've had worse luck at the same time most everyone else has seen better luck. Perhaps it has something to do with staying home and/or working more and chasing less...or you could argue it's not having MTN!

Rich T.

[Skip Talbot]

Eight tornadoes since 2003 counting them as tornado cycles. Five were on March 28 this year. That day has changed how I perceive being a chaser.

[Scott Weberpal]

Somewhere between 30 and 50 since 2000.

I don't keep any specific stats or counts.

[Scott Bell]

Rich,
perhaps when YOU are working, we amazingly all do better! ;) Then suddenly when you aren't working you do better and we all seem to do worse. hmmm

[Mikey Gribble]

48 as of now
I got skunked my first two and a half years, which hurt pretty bad, but I definitely think that is exactly what motivated me to study meteorology and to get better at chasing. If it was easy, everybody would be bagging 20 plus tornadoes a year.

Here is the breakdown...
2001 - 0 (only chased a few times)
2002 - 0 (chased probably 20 times)
2003 - 0 (hard core chasing and I still got skunked)
2004 - 21 (finally started getting half way decent at forecasting and it made a huge difference)
2005 - 20
2006 - 5 (the season SUCKED bit time and I got a girlfriend which is reflected in the stats due to less time in the field)
2007 - 1 (so far only one, but I am banking on this being my biggest year yet)
- the one tornado that is missing is the Andover KS tornado. I wasn't chasing, but I did see it.

[Dean Gill]

6 tornadoes.
-2002 : 1 tornado, May 23, Texas panhandle.:)
-2004 : 0 :mad:
-2005 : 5 tornadoes, June 7, South Dakota (1) and June 9, Kansas (4) including 2 simultaneous tornadoes :)
-2006 : 0 :mad:
-2007 : Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be... :rolleyes:
I'll be chasing from May 14th to June 1st...

[Bernard Hulshof]

-2001 : 1 tornado, May 29, Texas panhandle
-2002 : 1 tornado, May 7, south central Kansas
-2003 : 2 tornadoes, May 8, eastern Kansas
-2006 : 0, but I did see my first full grown waterspout in the Netherlands :)

Bernard Hulshof
Soest, the Netherlands

"Weather Pictures and Storm Chasing"
http://www.weatherpictures.nl (http://www.weatherpictures.nl/)

[Mike Hollingshead]

40-50 I think. Since 1999. That's not much for someone that chases as much as I do anymore. Some do that in a year or two. That is as strict of counting as I can come up with. Most times it is actually pretty easy to count, if one lets themselves be open to counting questionable transitions as one, which it most likely was. Some of these multivortex counters are annoying, lol.

My only goal I cared about was lost long ago. My goal was to never have a tornadoless year. Thanks 2002! Now I guess it is to only have one. So, I love getting early tubes to get that out of the way, like April 6, 2006(too bad only one for the year though) and March 28, 2007(better not repeat last year).

[Bryce Stone]

I started chasing seriously in 2003 (started spotting in 2000). I go more by tornado days than numbers. Since I started:

2003: None. Close enough to see power flashes from May 9th, 2003 in OKC.
2004: May 12th, June 12th.
2005: March 22nd.
2006: None. Didn't chase as much due to an unreliable car.
2007: March 28th.

If I had to put a number on it, I'd say I've probably seen about ten tornadoes from 2003-2007. I'll be out much more frequently this year than I have been in previous years. Another interesting question would be how many states you have chased in. I have done OK, TX, KS, NE, and IA. Looking to add MO, CO, SD, and maybe AR this year.

[Matthew Havin]

A billion.

That is a 1 followed by this many zeros:

000000000

Bow down, my minions.

[Marko Korosec]

Glad to see so many posts, interesting numbers, thanks! Also surprised about so many respondings, since its wildy-unpopular topic, right Shane?:D

Just to add some of my data...saw 3 tornadoes so far in my 5 year long chasing career, would be better if I wouldn't live here I guess.

- August 2005, two brief simultaneous F0 tornado touchdowns here in Slovenia few miles away from my home
- May 5th 2006, TX Patricia F0 anticyclonic tornado (30 metres away!)

Lets hope to raise the number during an upcoming May on the Plains.

[Richard Halter]

Since 1995, given that I have to scrape the funds together to fly out from Oregon (and the wife has to have her vacations by herself in all fairness, darn it), I have seen 11, including 8 on May 29, 2004 - 9 for that week in total.

Easy for me to count, too easy. ;)

[Tony Cook]

1 billion and 1!

The most recent event was in my back yard, remarkably with no apparent convection anywhere in the state of Texas. A pile of leaves made the three-foot vortex apparent for its two second lifetime.

I counted it as 17 tornadoes.

TonyC

A billion.

That is a 1 followed by this many zeros:

000000000

Bow down, my minions.

[Kevin Askew]

1997: Flora IL. F-3 Dix Exit -Flora
2002: Butler CO. MO. F-4 (Rope Stage) F-0/F-1 damage. Poplar Bluff/Fisk area. Work hampered getting to this storm earlier.....:)
2003: Scott Co. MO. F-3- Pope Co. IL. Funnel or F-1 Near Ky Border. (Same Storm)
2006: Perry, Randolph, SW Jefferson Co. MO. F-3 Also our longest track 30 miles give or take sighted 4 times.

Missed some chase/spot opportunities over the years. Now have a wider area we chase. Ideally, we like SE MO. area & track back to So. IL.

[Gene Moore]

A touchy topic that's been discussed in length over on WX-Chase. I find interesting comments like "I'm not competitive so I don't count." Huh, why is knowing where one stands competitive? If we spend much money and time chasing then we should keep track of how good we're doing. I don't keep records like I used to, but I still have a rough idea where I stand. Right now my average is pretty well set, about 10 tornadoes per year. Of course that includes bad years like 1988 (2) and good years like 2004 with 36. Most chasers that hit the big days of 2004 racked up alot of tornadoes. So why is it important to keep some statistics? I used to keep a log of not only chase results, good and bad, but hail encounters vs damage and bad road situations like getting stuck in the mud. Do you miss tornadoes, do you know why, if not your wasting money and time. I did years of numbers on why I missed tornadoes, here are the top reasons. (1) getting to the storm late/ looking at data too long (2) falling behind the mesocyclone and getting cutoff by heavy precip or hail (3) impassable roads usually mud (4) not making a decision between two storms quick enough. In the following years I eliminated many of these issues. Hence one of my chase rules: "there is right, wrong and late, late is always wrong." It might be noteworthy that none of my top failure modes is forecasting. Another very important statistic to count is how many times you did not go and were correct! Just because SPC calls for a big day you don't have to go. Yesterday was a fine example of when not to go considering the linear mode vs the terrain. Some people are good in the winding roads of Missouri and Tennessee, I am not and I know my limitations. Unless you just love to hear the sound of thunder it's not important to be out there on every single storm. Now that is competitive, fear of missing something someone else will gethttp://stormtrack.org/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif. Why do you miss tornadoes, getting stuck on too many HP's, losing the windshild northeast of the meso, going on marginal days, burned by the CAP .....it's worth thinking about.

Gene Moore

[Mike Hollingshead]

I think most keeping track are actually the ones that aren't all that competitive/"evil". I don't keep great track, but that is mostly because I'm lazy. I can however see how it'd be SIMPLY interesting to SOME to know. Which I guess is just too much for some to handle...something maybe outside their first judgement.

[scott r currens]

I did years of numbers on why I missed tornadoes, here are the top reasons. (1) getting to the storm late/ looking at data too long (2) falling behind the mesocyclone and getting cutoff by heavy precip or hail (3) impassable roads usually mud (4) not making a decision between two storms quick enough.

I have found that leaving my target too soon or not going to my target at all are the biggest reasons I miss tornadoes. Sometimes it is because I talk myself out of a target while getting updates on the road or I leave my target to intercept storms that initiated somewhere else.

Another very important statistic to count is how many times you did not go and were correct! Just because SPC calls for a big day you don't have to go.
Gene Moore

I did the opposite this winter and looked at all the tornado days in 2006 that I could have chased but didn't. It is amazing how many tornado days I miss because I wasn't paying attention.

[Terry Tyler]

zero...ive been chasing for 3 years, but havent had anyone to support me as far as it goes...since im only 18 and work part time...i dont have funds to purchase the equipment i need to get the job done...but still...i try...

ive got a few funnels and on november, 15 2005 i saw one about to form...but no...i have never seen a tornado in my chasing career...

like i say every year...maybe THIS is the year....

[Shane Adams]

Glad to see so many posts, interesting numbers, thanks! Also surprised about so many respondings, since its wildy-unpopular topic, right Shane?:D



LOL, well, that comment was spawned from a time when I was a newbie, describing the general consensus of the chasers that were established then. If you look through this thread, you'll find few replies by chasers with more experience than me...which reflects my point :D

[Caleb Kimbrough]

One

(A post has to be at least 10 characters long, so I'm typing this in parentheses. Exciting, I know.)

[Jay McCoy]

LOL, well, that comment was spawned from a time when I was a newbie, describing the general consensus of the chasers that were established then. If you look through this thread, you'll find few replies by chasers with more experience than me...which reflects my point :D

Even some of us old guys like to keep count. Never bought into that "its not about numbers" stuff. I like to know what kind of year its been and nothing rates it better than a tornado count to me except quality of the tornados I saw. I would rather see 1 f5 than 10 f0's but will take anything I get.

Some think keeping count is about ego and bragging but I could care less if others know. I keep count for me. Just like I have always said I dont chase to be popular or be seen on tv. I would chase if I was the only person in the world. Otherwise I would have big websites and blogs and tv contracts. I have sold video and been on national shows but dont actively look for them. I could care less.

I know Shane is the same way.

[Richard Halter]

Because I have to travel from Oregon and spend the precious family lucre, unless I can document my success, I have a hard time justifying my expenditures to the "banker" ;)

Besides, unless I can move to the Alley, I doubt I will ever come close to a billion and 1 in my lifetime, so i have to treasure each and every one.

[Kurt Hulst]

2002: 1
2004:28
2005:33
2006:0
2007:1

so around 63 total

2004-05 were good years to me. 2006 I saw a lot of funnels I did not get much chance to chase during the bigger outbreaks in 06.

[Bill Tabor]

I believe I'm somewhere between 60 and 100, but since I moved I'm not sure where my tornado count list is. I need to update it for recent years. One note for me was during those recent years where many / most of you got 40 to 60 tornadoes in a year ie 2004 and other years up north I chose not to go. I sometimes get a bit tired of driving all the way to KS not to mention Iowa, etc. However that set me way back, and I also missed some great tornadoes. Oh well, can't catch em all. One of these days though - hopefully soon I will try and find my list and attempt to update it more accurately. Note: I chased for years lots of storms (even with Gene Moore) that never produced. Then there are certain years, certain storms, that are prolific tornado producers. If you are on those storms you are in luck. If you aren't your numbers game suffers. I suspect if the pattern stays north such as Iowa, South Dakota, even Nebraska I may miss out on a lot, but will chase some of them. Hopefully it will all 'come back to Texas' (to quote a recent popular song) soon.

[George Flickinger]

I saw my first tornado in 1997. However I haven't really kept "score", though four memorable chases account for 15-20 tornadoes. I was hoping to see at least one tornado every year for the rest of my life, but got shut out last year....but have started a new streak thanks to 3/26/07! George

[Mikel Shively]

2003: 1
2004: 0
2005: 1
2006: 2
2007: (so far) 0

Total: 4

[Jeremy Bower]

I began chasing back in 1999 while I was a senior in high school. At that time I didn't have the money nor the experience to really chase anything outside a 100 mile radius of my hometown in eastern Ohio. Beginning in 2001 is when I made my annual trip to the Plains for a couple weeks to chase. Now that I live in Lincoln I have more opportunities to chase when I'm not working with the Emergency Operations Center.

Tornado Count
1999: 0
2000: 0
2001: 1
2002: 0
2003: 22
2004: 1
2005: 2
2006: 1
2007: none so far
Total: 26

[Chris Wilburn]

I have been chasing since 2004 and my first tornado was one of the Mulvane tornadoes on June 12, 2004. I saw 3 total that day. Since then I have seen 7 more tornadoes including 5 on June 12, 2005 near Jayton, TX. So I guess that would make my total 10.

[Jay Cazel]

Been chasing on and off for 20 years I have seen around 30 to 40, it is hard to remember the ones that you don't have photos or video of.

[Oscar van der Velde]

Not a very relevant contribution, but...

2001: chased 6 times (excluding those for lightning at night), saw 3 tornadoes near Panhandle/White Deer
2006: not enough tornadoes last May to get a fair chance

...but last year I bagged more sprites than most of you tornadoes in all your career! This year so far: 9! :rolleyes: