Storm Chases: Most successful event.

[Danny Neal]

I am going to try to do an unscientific poll and will have the results on my blog when/if this thread takes off and I get some good feedback.

I post this question. In all the years you (my peers) have been chasing....what have your most successful chase day or days been?

Post one or two days in your careers that you all can reflect on and say "Yeah that was just perfect." Based on structure, productivity, lack of hassle involved, and/or sentimental value (I.E your first)

My goal is to tally up everyone's responses during the longevity of this thread (in my blog) and at the end of its duration I will post the unofficial results (on here) and maybe we can figure out a clear cut day that everyone seemed to gravitate towards.

It is the off-season and it sure beats flaming each other ;) I look forward to seeing the wide spectrum of results that ST features!
_________________________________

#2 - April 23rd, 2000 - First trip to the plains at 12 years old! Got down there on the 22nd, spent the night in El Reno, OK, and was treated to my first Oklahoma thunderstorm. The next day (23rd) chased SE OK and saw my first Oklahoma tornado just east of Mc Alester. A beautiful supercell formed in SW Pittsburg County at around 2 PM. We were gassing up about 20 miles north of Mc Alester when we noticed this massive Cb to the south. It was so eerie to stand at the Mc Donalds (next to the gas station) and hear constant thunder while the sun was shining with blue sky all around. Everytime I dream, I just imagine looking south at 2 large updraft towers.....while to the west and north.....clear blue sky. As we hit Mc Alester, a large wall cloud came into view to the SE. It was amazing. Directly to the east was the core of rain and hail and then almost immediately a low rain free base with low hanging wall cloud. If you have been to Mc Alester, then you know the bridge on the main road in the middle of town? Passes over some rail tracks I believe. As we crested that, the wall cloud and long flanking line came into clear view. If I am feeling generous I may post a video still of it. (I am very reserved when it comes to posting material, I have loosened up in 08 though so one day I may open up to the world) Anyway we stopped just east of town in a JC Penneys parking lot and filmed a brief needle funnel that grew into skinny cone that dipped 50% to ground level. Never knew whether or not this was a tornado until one day a few years ago I looked it up on SPC.

1900UNK MC ALESTER PITTSBURG OK3493 9576 LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED TORNADO ON GROUND JUST EAST OF MCALESTER. (TUL)

Followed the storm east to Red Oak but never saw any else worth noting. Even if it did produce further east (which it actually did) I wouldn't have seen it in the Rocky Mounta....I mean SE OK terrain.......
_____________________________________

#1 - April 14, 2001 - My first and second Kansas tornado! Got down there on the 13th stayed in Cameron, MO. I was 13 years old and back then all we had was a weather radio. We knew storms were going to fire in OK and KS, but had no laptop and the only other means of media was from AM radio and a small 6 in black and white tv. While fueling up in Wichita (were going to head to OKC) we overheard ICT mentioning tornadoes along US 54 corridor in Kansas. We decided to head west on 54 to Pratt. We got there at about, 1:30 PM and booked a hotel room at the Super 8 across from the Pizza Hut and next to the Mc Donalds along 54 just east of 281 I want to say. A severe T storm watch went up to the north for the Salina area as we ate at Pizza Hut. As we paid, a tornado watch went up for Oklahoma. So we were caught in the middle. We were baited south to Medicine Lodge, thinking if anything went up in N OK we MAY be able to get down there and catch it. Back then the NWR coverage was bad in this area so we were going all visual. Looking for towers and trying to stay away from the stratiform precip to the east. Finally a storm popped just SW of Medicine Lodge. We were thinking showtime. It struggle to do much of anything as we head south. Finally just south of Medicine Lodge we let it pass over and were not impressed. So we sat there for ten minutes admiring the Kansas landscape. We had a brief transmission from ICT of a severe thunder storm warning for the storm we just let pass over (by that time it was near Attica) so we blasted north up 281 to Medicine Lodge, thinking we would be blasting east to Attica.

This is when the best decision I have ever had in my storm chasing career occurred. "Dad I have to go to the bathroom" :DOH!: Much to my dad and brother dismay we stopped for a minute while I "changed the oil" As we fired up the car, a clear cut radio transmission from the Pratt County spotters. Tornado warning western Pratt County! WOW where are we? Where is that? It's only 20 miles ahead? Lets go! As we blasted north on 281 this LARGE core came into view to the north. From east to west, the northern horizon was filled by dark precip. Then there it was....the large rainfree base to the west and the low ragged wall cloud about 10 miles off (near the town of Haviland) For the next 15 minutes we sat 7 miles south of Pratt and watched this beautiful jaw dropping storm move ESE. We let the wall cloud get within 1/2 mile of us (It was so surreal to see scud developing 100 feet off the ground and get drawn in to the center of circulation within such a close proximity of us) All I can say is thank God we had 3 video cameras rolling (2 camcorders and 1 dash cam). The video I was taking SUCKED. If I wasnt shooting my shoe laces, I was filming the power lines above my head. My dad was taking far superior and amazing footage(well least I think so) of the whole event to this point. I made a nice little presentation for my MET class a year ago of this whole event but again I rarely release my work so again I may change my mind eventually.

Anyway, as this storm was moving overhead we dropped south a mile to see a large cone funnel dipping down around the same area we were in. Then we heard it.....what the.......is that???? whoooosssshhhhhhh! Then it hit, like a giant white fist. The RFD. Winds gusted to 80 mph from the WNW and rocked us. I was standing on the opposite side of the road and was blown to my knees (hell I was only 80 lbs back then) That was the inexperience in us though. We should have went south and continued east, instead of going south and sitting south. We got blasted by wind and dime hail for 5 minutes and then it all stopped and it was a brilliant blue cloud free sky behind it. As it blasted east, we tried catching up to it, but with our crappy minivan, we could not take the dirt/mud roads. So we lost time driving back through Pratt, and then east on 54. We got the beginning of the Pratt tornado, but missed the large hybrid wedge that Mike U and Jay A documented. Just as we got east of Pratt, we saw it again. A stout stove pipe about 5 miles to the SE. With a beautiful rainbow painted across the sky. It was a shot made in heaven. Nothing I have seen since compares to this view.......The only picture I have ever released of this day says it all

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o124/ILSvrWxTorChsr/04%2014%2001%20Pratt%20Kansas/KansasApril2001-01-1.gif


After this tornado lifted trailed the storm east to Clearwater, KS, where we saw another brief (30 second if that) touchdown just before dark. Here are the reports from the day.

2324UNK 7 SSE PRATT PRATT KS3754 9867 (DDC)
2330UNK 5 NE SAWYER PRATT KS3755 9860 (DDC)
2339UNK10 SE PRATT PRATT KS3753 9858 (DDC)
2345UNK 3 S CAIRO PRATT KS3759 9856 (DDC)

This far and away blows away anything I have seen to this day by far.


So as I said before, how about you??

[Shane Adams]

It's impossible to narrow it down to even a few "most successful" days, because there are so many variables for the different events. I'll list a few highlights though...

May 3, 1999 - 10 tornadoes, including my first F5. Also made a fair chunk of change from this event, which helped pay my long-suffering utility bills that Spring.

May 29, 2004 - 10 tornadoes, including the most incredible meso/tornado cyclone/tornado behavior I've ever seen or captured on video. It's hard to beat tornadoes zig-zagging and doing full circles.

June 12, 2004 - My best video day ever, and my most incredible tornado experience. The only day I've ever truly "heard" a tornado roar.

May 4, 2007 - Meteorologically-significant storm and behavior. The three largest tornadoes I've ever seen, including the 100th of my career.

May 24, 2008 - Difficult but productive day, with 11 tornadoes. Although many of them were hard to see or needed lightning to bring them out, this was my career-best for # of tubes.

[Tony Laubach]

May 29 gets the call for two years..

2004: My first 10+ tornado day including the Conway Springs show. To this date, still some of the best video I have shot in terms of tornadoes and their antics.

2008: My second 10+ tornado day including Kearney, Tipton, and Glen Elder. This chase takes over as my best to date not only cause of the wild weather we witnessed, but all the events of the day in terms of the deployments we managed to do.

Overall, over a quarter of my career tornadoes have been seen between these two events. Funny to think they are the same date!

[Verne Carlson]

Two days stand out although the March 28, 2007 Beaver, OK day would be a close third.

Sept 16, 2006 - wins hands down in terms of positioning on the Cannistota tornado, first looking down on it's formation from the overpass and then letting it come to us down I-90. First time I heard the tornado roar and had debris raining down around us.
http://stormchaserco.blogspot.com/2006/09/intense-tornado-encounter-in-sd.html

May 10, 2004 - 7 tornadoes in one county over two hours moving 10 - 15 mph with awesome contrast and visibility. A single meso, tornado factory.
http://www.stormchaserco.com/20040510.html

[Chris Hayes]

This is a list of every day chasing where I've seen at least 1 tornado. My most succesful chases are in bold:

May 5, 2002: Wasnt a very succesful chase but it was my first ever tornado. We missed the Happy, Texas tornado but was able to catch an F1 after dark near Seiling, Oklahoma.

May 7, 2002: Saw a tornado in the cluster of over 20 tornados in SW KS

May 4, 2003: Saw an F3 tornado near Baxter Springs, Kansas.

June 11, 2004: Witnessed two tornados near Fort Dodge, Iowa

June 12, 2004: Saw 3 tornados including the Mulvane F3, Rock tornado, and the tornado before the Mulvane tornado.

June 13, 2004: Witnessed two tornados from a surprise supercell near Lincoln, Nebraska

May 22, 2007: Saw the tornado north of Hays

May 23, 2008 - Saw Quinter #1 as it approached the interstate and second tornado form on the other side of the interstate. Dropped south and saw at least one more tornado near Ness City.

May 24, 2008 - On a day where I was expecting to chase in Kansas or Nebraska I witnessed 3 tornados NW of Oklahoma City.

May 25, 2008 - Saw the landspout tornado near Bison, Kansas.

May 29, 2008 - Witnessed one of the several Kearney, Nebraska tornados.

[Charles Kuster]

My best day would have to be May 23, 2008.

I observed three tornadoes that day including both of the Quinter tornadoes. Both Quinter tornadoes were amazing to watch and the second one was the largest (and received the highest EF rating) of any tornado that I have seen so far. This day was also a lot of fun to forecast for me. I made up for the previous day's forecast and picked Wakeeney as a target spot that morning. This was close enough to allow us to position on the Quinter tornadoes.

After witnessing a third tornado near Ellis late in the evening, we moved to Hays where we just sat in the city for 20 minutes listening to the tornado sirens go off. I really enjoyed this as well because I love the sound of tornado sirens. :)

[Michael O'Keeffe]

Well my dad and I have had our share of exciting and successful chases but these stand out in my mind.

September 16, 2006 - We intercepted our first tornado while chasing in SE South Dakota, one of two others we saw that day.

April 24, 2007 - Even though most chasers think of this day as being a bit weak in terms of not that many strong tornadoes I thought it was a great chase for my dad and I. We sat in the same spot for nearly 30 minutes watching numerous funnels as well as several touchdowns near Nickerson, KS. The structure on that storm was also pretty impressive.

May 4, 2007 - I wouldn't exactly call this day "successful" mainly because it did very severe damage, but to be on such an historic storm to me counts as successful. Yes, the Greensburg storm was just unbelievable to see in person with its size and power, but like I said it was sobering to see all of the destruction.

May 22, 2008 - This day was insane for us capturing 9 tornadoes on four different supercells. It is one thing to see nine tornadoes from one meso, but 9 from four different supercells including the Collyer, KS storm that ranks as one of the most impressive storms I have ever seen!

September 12, 2008 - This was a surprise day that bagged us a weak tornado just about 10 miles from my house! That is what made this day such a wild and exciting one. The structure this day as well was some of the best of the year!

[Skip Talbot]

March 28, 2007 - Goodland, KS (http://www.skip.cc/chase/070328)

My best by a long shot. Five tornadoes including the perfectly photogenic rope in my avatar. First multi tornado day. First Wedge. First multi simultaneous tornado event. I still dream of that day. Thanks to Jerry Funfsinn for getting the video footage of that day as I was ill equipped.

[Marc Austin]

May 10, 2004: - Our first truly successful chase day. We were near Limon, CO and got on the same supercell Verne mentioned above. We witnessed many tornadoes and some nice storm structure!

May 4, 2007: - This day isn't memorable in terms of numbers of tornadoes. As I recall we only saw one or two. We did catch the LP Supercell near Woodward, OK after it had already produced. The structure was incredible! The most significant event though, was the Greensburg Tornado. Our first EF-5 and probably the largest and strongest tornado we will ever see!

May 5, 2007: - The day after the Greensburg tornado, as many of you can recall, was a very active outbreak day. Visibility was poor on most of the tornadoes, but we still came out fairly successful with at least 4 tornado captures.

May 23, 2008: - After our two-week chasecation, we flew back out from Florida for this outbreak. We saw the first and second Quinter tornadoes. The second EF-4 tornado produced the best video footage we've ever recorded.

May 24, 2008: - It was just a "gut feeling" that lead us south into Oklahoma rather than north into Nebraska and northern Kansas, but boy it paid off! The most tornadoes we've witnessed in a single day at 12. A phenominal day with some amazing storm structure and a few close high-contrast tornadoes.

[Danny Neal]

Some very good responses so far. Most people are adding five, which is alright since it adds more variety, so I will add my next 3 chases.

#5 - June 7th, 2008 - Chicago area tornadoes. Procrastinated a lot this day, wanted to nap not chase (was running on zero sleep for a while). How can you pass up this day though? Especially one so close. The rest is history....... Didn't get on it from the start, but still got an amazing up-close view and bagged 2 tornadoes.

#4 - May 30th, 2004 - Camped in the El Paso area for my target. Got baited east to I-57 corridor and missed the Secor tornado that was in plain sight of my original target of El Paso. Still grabbed a brief spin up near Martinton, IL, before the storm occulded and twisted its way into Indiana. Then got cored by the cold frontal squall line near Kankakee.

#3 - May 30th, 2003 - Storm B. Take a pick this day. Storm A through G from Monroe WI to Clinton IL. All produced tornadoes as they moved SE at 25. Was on the storm that tracked through the Joliet, IL. Caught it near Mendota, IL, and caught the West Brooklyn, IL, tornado, and tracked this supercell down Route 30 all the way into Joliet, where the storm burned us. Didn't see the Joliet tornado, but was 5 minutes behind it, never easy seeing damage.

#2 - #1 - listed above

I am going to start the unofficial poll in my blog, and will update as time allows.

[Scott Weberpal]

June 25, 1998 - First tornado, 20 miles from home.

April 11, 2001 - 3 tornadoes from Parnell to Oxford, IA in my first successful cold-core chase.

May 10, 2003 - Lima, IL to Good Hope, IL - 2 large tornadoes both on the ground for over 30 minutes then to cap off the day a beautiful rope tornado at dusk with 2 cone funnels on either side of it.

May 30, 2003 - Got home from work at 3pm, drove 45 minutes west, got a tornado between Monroe and Brodhead, WI, and was back home by 8pm.

July 14, 2003 - Had a tornado develop <100 yards in front of us near Searles, MN. Two more tornadoes that day, one near Lake Crystal and another brief tornado near Janesville, MN.

May 10, 2004 - Simla to Cedar Point, CO - 7 tornadoes in 2 hours from one storm (in a <2% SPC tornado probability area - didn't get suckered into SE WY and the higher tornado "probabilities"). Occlusion after occlusion produced tornadoes as the storm moved very slowly to the northeast. You could have setup a lawn chair for each tornado.

May 5, 2006 - First anti-cyclonic tornado near Patricia, TX.

[Danny Neal]

Okay blog is up where you can check out the results so far....will update later tonight

UPDATED 2 PM = 12/13 (http://northernilstormchaser.blogspot.com/2008/12/official-st-successful-chase-poll.html)

[Bill Hark]

For beauty, power, visibility and "tornado time", May 23 2008 Quinter was my best chase ever. I watched the first cone approach me while I waited on I-70. It lifted and formed another brief tornado to the north. The next storm approached the area and I watched an EF4 wedge from a hilltop as it moved north. It was nice to have a few minutes of pure tornado time when I could just sit and watch the storm. Then I was able to head north, then west on I-70 in time to see the massive trunk cross the interstate. Visibility and contrast was amazing.
http://www.harkphoto.com/05232008.html

My second best day (not even close to May 23, 2008) was May 29, 2004 near Jamestown and Cloud, County Kansas. I saw 6 or 7 tornadoes including a wedge. Although visibility wasn't as good as 5/23/08, the day had a wide variety of interesting tornado shapes including a wedge, trunk, a long narrow "s" shaped tornado, anticyclonic tornadoes along with some flying debris. Throw in some 4 inch hail and it was a very cool day.
http://www.harkphoto.com/05292004.html

My 3rd best day was May 25, 1997 where I saw tornadoes in the Harper and Anthony, Kansas areas. I really enjoyed the first tornado of the day. Although brief, I was able to watch the development of a supercell from a small tower while mainly staying in one place. Later in the day, I saw the famous 'Dillo-Cam Perth, KS wedge. There were multiple funnels, another brief tornado and beautiful structure. The first tornado of the day is also sentimental for me since it was my first tornado.
http://www.harkphoto.com/05292004.html

The May 25, 1997 outbreak along with the tornadoes I saw on May 26, 1997 were during a two week period chasing with Charles Edwards on Cloud 9 Tours. I learned how to chase on that trip and chased on my own during later visits to the Plains.

Bill Hark

[Paul Hadfield]

March 12, 2006 (http://www.pawleewurx.com/pmh/031206.html) - The only IL storm I know of to earn it's own name besides the Tri-State Tornado of 1925.

April 2, 2006 (http://www.pawleewurx.com/pmh/040206.html) - Historic 25 tornado outbreak. Great day for unusual, fast moving spin up's.

May 17, 2006 (http://www.pawleewurx.com/pmh/051706.html) - Bizarre, moisture starved long track NW to SE moving supercell.

July 26, 2006 (http://www.pawleewurx.com/pmh/072606.html) - Tornado producing storm that pretty much drifted due E along a stalled boundary and was incredibly easy to follow.

September 22, 2006 (http://www.pawleewurx.com/pmh/092206.html) - Colorful storm at Logan county IL.

December 12, 2006 (http://www.pawleewurx.com/pmh/121206.html) - Slow moving, late season wall cloud with amazing color.

My life count for tornadoes is ridiculously small but color is what i'm after and 2006 was a great year for it. 2004 and 2005 were awesome too. 2007 and 2008 has it's moments but nothing like those mentioned. As for your poll, my first two entries are worthy for inclusion since some here have been on them as well but not so sure about the rest. Also put me down as witness to May 10, 2003, May 30, 2008.

[Danny Neal]

Updated to 5 PM (http://northernilstormchaser.blogspot.com/2008/12/official-st-successful-chase-poll.html) - Looks like Quinter is in the lead with a three way tie for second. Interested in more results!

[craig buchanan]

My most successful chase was the first one with my future wife. We correctly decided not to drive around a blind bend in the road. Had we not, we would have driven directly in to a tornado actively destroying the town...

Which only goes to show the wisdom of the words from this years season of Storm Chasers that no sane scientist chases in Arkansas.

[afischer]

Even though I have some "less-big" sentimental favorites, here are my top 3.

May 22, 2004 - Alexandria and Daykin-Hallam wedges... on storm from its birth on the dryline bulge west of Belleville KS. A big CAPE big SRH day that produced giant tornadoes.

August 24, 2006 - watched a storm initiate north of Pierre SD, move ESE, and produce several tornadoes, missing the 3 largest due to being out of position on spotty roads. It was a "dry" classic for much of its life til it reached the warm front, with high-based high-contrast tornadoes... the storm cut me off right before producing the 45-minute wedge near Wessington, and even missing that it was still the coolest storm I've ever been on.

September 16, 2006 - the Salem/Canistota tornado was probably the nicest tornado I've ever seen (I prefer cones and stovepipes to wedges)... lots of cool fluid motions, and developed high contrast as it crossed I-90. For some reason it seemed to be moving extremely fast, too, though I don't think the storm itself was ever moving faster than 45mph.

[Danny Neal]

UPDATED TO NOON :::: DECEMBER 14TH (http://northernilstormchaser.blogspot.com/2008/12/official-st-successful-chase-poll.html)

Quinter leading the way with 4 votes and then five tied with 3. Remember you can post any event on a storm chase. Whether it was a beautiful shelf cloud or an apocalyptic EF5.

[scott r currens]

For me two chases stand head and sholders above the rest.

May 29,2004: Attica/Argonia/Conway Springs (http://www.mesoscale.ws/04-documents/040529.htm)
I shot more minutes of tornado footage on this day than I had on the prior 123 chases combined.

June 12,2004: Mulvane (http://www.mesoscale.ws/04-documents/040612.htm)
Seeing Eric's Mulvane shot in person...what else could a chaser ask for?

[Shane Adams]

As I expected, the highest-profile event of 2008 is leading this poll. Just a reflection of the influx of new blood into chasing and (more to the point) into StormTrack.

I'd love to see this poll across the entire storm chase world, newbies and old veterans alike. I'd wager 1991 and 1995 would give Quinter a run for its money.

[Danny Neal]

As I expected, the highest-profile event of 2008 is leading this poll. Just a reflection of the influx of new blood into chasing and (more to the point) into StormTrack.

I'd love to see this poll across the entire storm chase world, newbies and old veterans alike. I'd wager 1991 and 1995 would give Quinter a run for its money.

I was actually hoping to get their feedback.....I knew the more recent events would dominate. I shot out some emails to many veterans and maybe I can get a response or two. I am surprised I haven't seen a Dimmitt, Pampa, Allison, Andover, Red Rock, or even Spencer reply yet..... It is what it is I guess.

[Eric Treece]

I will 4th May 10, 2004........I think it will be a long time before I ever feel so satisfied after a chase as I was that night. What an awesome day. Sat north of Simla and watched the storm form for well over an hour before the first tornado touched down.

[Danny Neal]

Updated 5:15 PM :: DECEMBER 14TH (http://northernilstormchaser.blogspot.com/2008/12/official-st-successful-chase-poll.html)

3 way tie for first now.

May 10th, 2004
May 29th, 2004
May 23rd, 2008

Gotta love May eh?

[Laura Duchesne]

Believe it or not, for me, it was June 5, 2006. I chased with friends Ron Gravelle and Scott Keddie.

I felt the entire day was planned out very well. During the early afternoon hours, we had time to grab some Dairy Queen ice cream and visit the site of the Manchester, SD tornado. We then headed west to Sanborn county in SD, after a classic supercell erupted. We did not see any other chasers in sight, it felt like we were the only ones out there. We sat beside a field after taking some back roads, watching the wall cloud gather and the rear flank downdraft come down with a clear slot behind the wall cloud... all while the birds chirped. We could hear an unforgettable hail shaft roar sound from the core.

We then decided to head south to get out of the storm's path and get into position to watch tornadogenesis. Above a lush green field of grass, the meso began to really tighten and rotate more. Soon, a brief small multi vortex tornado formed. Right after that, a debris swirl formed to the right. Several minutes later, a larger classic elephant trunk/cone shaped tornado had formed. It did eventually become rain wrapped before dissipating and we hoped it did not hit anything. We got photos and video. We saw a really bright green core after the tornadoes, and then we got rear flanked, calling it a day.

It felt like we were in our own little world of wonder. To me, that was a complete satisfying chase experience I will never forget. It never had the structure like the Beloit/Tipton storm, but it still had discernible supercell features and we enjoyed the show without anyone else getting in the way. We never really had to panic and rush on this chase, things kind of planned out itself, which was nice.

[Scott Weberpal]

I was actually hoping to get their feedback.....I knew the more recent events would dominate. I shot out some emails to many veterans and maybe I can get a response or two. I am surprised I haven't seen a Dimmitt, Pampa, Allison, Andover, Red Rock, or even Spencer reply yet..... It is what it is I guess.

There might be less than a half dozen people combined on this board who witnessed any of those events - or that at least check this board regularly.

[Danny Neal]

There might be less than a half dozen people combined on this board who witnessed any of those events - or that at least check this board regularly. Which is why I sent emails out to the more distinguished members of the storm chasing community.........

[Danny Neal]

Well seems like this thread has stalled, as of now we are still tied. I have gotten a few responses via email which is always encouraging. Ill give it til Sunday before I declare this a done deal.

[Verne Carlson]

I am surprised I haven't seen a Dimmitt, Pampa, Allison, Andover, Red Rock, or even Spencer reply yet..... It is what it is I guess.

Or Manchester, SD June 24, 2003 - I didn't chase it but I'd vote for it anyway!!

[Danny Neal]

Or Manchester, SD June 24, 2003 - I didn't chase it but I'd vote for it anyway!!
Indeed. Even the year before in Brown County was something that could have made someones chasing career. There are two outbreaks that I really miss out on, well make that 2 outbreaks and 1 event. All 3 happened before I turned 4 years old so obviously I couldn't chase them.

#1 - March 13th, 1990 outbreak. Many significant tornadoes in this early season outbreak. The one thread posted before about the guy whose house got hit (Joel Wright posted it) hit in IL and I would have killed to have been on those storms coming out of the Quad Cities (that is if I didn't head out to Kansas before ;)) Anyone have any links to this outbreak? Everything I have found has been focused on the Hesston tornado and rightly so. Just looking for some variety

#2 - June 2nd, 1990 - IL/IN outbreak. Several long tracked strong tornadoes occurred in EC IL into IN and OH. Again, being to young! Again any links about this outbreak would be appreciated.

#3 - March 27th, 1991 - I have found NOTHING on this. A F3 tornado hit Lemont, IL, (which is literally 6-7 miles SW of me) and tracked NE into my neighborhood. (The tornado had lifted but there was still a persistent wall cloud with funnels) Again. Being 3 years old it KILLS me to not remember this, especially in my own backyard!

[Mark Farnik]

Far and away, my most successful chase day to this point in my chase career was May 29th, 2008. I witnessed 16 tornadoes and the most phenomenal structure I've ever seen on the Tipton/Glen Elder storm, and got great footage of it all :D

A close runner up is March 28, 2007 - despite only having a cell phone, a weather radio, and a Rand McNally road atlas, I still managed to bag 7 tornadoes that night, thanks to Brett Adair's stellar nowcasting, and I managed to get exclusive, but decidedly crappy footage of the Benkelman, NE multi-vortex (the final tornado produced by the Sharon Springs/Goodland/Bird City supercell) with my parent's antiquated VHS-C video camera as it crossed Highway 34 just east of town.

[Simon Brewer]

This event is probably the most sentimental chase for me, but no tornadoes on this day: April 29, 2000 Northwest Texas
Two of my great freinds were with me on this day and we enjoyed every bit of this chase from start to finish.

I guess my favorite tornado chase would be: May 4, 2003 KS/MO Outbreak. Still, not the most tornadoes, nor the most photogenic, but I loved this chase.

Simon

[Rob Satkus]

Some of my oldies but goodies..

1. May 11, 1992 - SE OK...great view of a couple large and damaging (F3, F4) tornadoes near McAlester.

2. April 12, 1991 - Cyclic supercell produced 5 or 6 tornadoes near Enid

3. June 13th 1998 - Great views of tornadoes near Guthrie Ok and in the OKC area, experienced 100+mph RFD winds as well.

4. October 4th, 1998 - Up close and personal with a tornado near Watonga Ok.

5. May 24th 1998 - Numerous tornadoes seen over NC Ok. including a very close encounter with an anticyclonic tornado near Wakita


Honorable mentions:
May 3rd, 1999 - Most tornadoes in one day, including several that no other chasers saw, especially after dark...such an exhausting and devastating day kept it out of the top 5.

May 4th, 2007 - Arnett Ok tornado - rare chance to see a supercell and tornado from initial tower to it's demise at sunset as it evolved (devolved?) into a spectacular LP

MAy 18th, 1989 - First solo chase near Tulsa netted a high contrast cone

April 22, 1985 - first chase is always a fave even tho we didn't see any tornadoes - great supercell west of El Reno Ok...I often wonder if that day had ended in a blue sky bust if I would have continued to chase.

Rob

[Greg McLaughlin]

1) May 24, 2008: 8 tornadoes including high contrast video right behind a
tornado as its tearing trees apart. Video on S.O. 2008.

2) June 1, 1999: 2 tornadoes near Checotah, OK. The first tornado was an
F3 around 350yds wide. The second tornado touched down over a lake.

3) June 11, 2001: 2 tornadoes near Ellsoworth, KS outside of SPC tornado risk. This may have been one of my best forecasts.

4) May 24, 2002: Brief, but beautiful multi-vortex tornado just outside of Vernon, TX. This was a difficult chase, and a last minute decision to leave the storm I was on to jump on this storm led to seeing the tornado.

5) April 21, 2001: Hoisington, KS F4. I left Tulsa around noon and headed west on 412 to Woodward. Arriving in Woodward around 4pm I had to make a decision to chase storms in the Texas panhandle or take a chance and play the warm front in Kansas. Storms had yet to fire in Kansas, however there was a growing cu field, so I opted to take my chases on the warm front. I missed the daytime tornadoes in Kansas but made it into Great Bend just as the storm was headed torwards Hoisington to the north. We drove north of town to see a large stovepipe tornado illuminated by the almost non-stop lightning. We could see powerflashes from the tornado as it ripped through Hoisington. The structure of that supercell was one of the most incredible I have ever seen.

honorable mention

June 3, 2001: Murdock, KS....sat around all day with 6500 CAPE and thermo nuclear cap. Storms tried to fire, but never got going. We decided to head home right before sunset, when a storm managed to break through and go up like a mushroom cloud. We turned around and headed torward it. We got on the storm right after dark, and drove through the hook echo precip from the south to see a giant bell-shaped meso lit up by the lightning. We turned on a county road just as a tornado briefly dropped in the field right next to us. The tornado didn't last 30 seconds.

[John Wetter]

My Big Days:

May 22, 2007 (http://www.wxchaser.com/pages/photos/2007/052207/index.html) & 2008 (http://www.wxchaser.com/pages/chase/2008/052208/052208-gallery/index.html) - The best tornadoes from both days happened only miles away from each other.

July 7, 2000 (http://www.wxchaser.com/pages/chase/2000/070700/070700.html) - This is more of a local event in MN but it did produce a few small tornadoes. We saw one tornado that was more of a cascading rain curtain kind of look to it.

[Danny Neal]

UPDATED 12/20 : 3:30 PM (http://northernilstormchaser.blogspot.com/2008/12/official-st-successful-chase-poll.html)- I appreciate the responses. I read every single one and enjoy reading everyone's experiences (good or bad) Some of the newer members should check this thread out if for nothing else, a learning experience of what can happen when you accurately forecast and make smart decisions :)

[Jeff Passner]

Okay, I'm a "old" guy and I've chased some unusual events living in New Mexico.

My first tornado was May 30, 1982 near Mountain View, Oklahoma. That's how long I've been doing this.

My greatest regret --- April 26, 1991... I had a class that week and could not get away for Red Rock and the others that day. Just part of life... I pleaded with my boss, but I knew it was useless. Jobs are more important than storms... :(

My greatest event was actually a shocker --- August 31, 2008 just west of Las Cruces, New Mexico... Two supercells that produced cyclic tornadoes for 90 minutes in the summer monsoon. It happens.. I still can't get a good count of how many tornadoes there were. I've settled on eight but it could be 11. It went on and on like a machine, although much of it occurred after dark. I learned a lot about vorticity that night.

Otherwise, in the Plains... Too many to really choose from, but I consider June 6, 1989 near Plainview, Texas to be one of my greats. I learned so much that day. It was not anything more than an F2-F3 tornado but that day I learned how to chase storms.

"Greatest" and "best" is different to everyone. To me, the greatest is when you see something different and learn something new. So that's why I'd pick August 31, 2008 in the monsoon and June 6 at Plainview as the greatest in my career. Hopefully there will be many more.... As some say, size does not matter!! :)

[jeremy wilson]

May 29 2004. My first real chase with zero data of any kind. Just visual and instinct. Caught around 6 naders that day and became really good friends with my current chase partner Aarron Hughes.

[Brandon Ivey]

I will also vote for May 29th, 2004. So many tornadoes that day. Many of them were highly photogenic. The storm moved along at a crawl (lawn chair chase). Large cones and wedges occured without any major towns being hit. You really could not ask for more!

[Danny Neal]

UPDATED DECEMBER 23RD, 2008 - 2:30 PM (http://northernilstormchaser.blogspot.com/2008/12/official-st-successful-chase-poll.html)


May 29th, 2004 takes a lead and not surprisingly since it was a wild day from Nebraska to Oklahoma.

[John Farley]

1. June 4, 2008, Danvers, IL - a slow-moving tornado that evolved from stovepipe to multiple vortex, that I watched for 20 minutes and only had to move once.

2. April 11, 2007, east of Terre Haute, IN - no tornado, but the most spectacular cloud rotation I have ever seen.

3. Twelve years ago yesterday - yes, DECEMBER 23, 1996, Evansville, IL - my first chase tornado (which I almost accidentally drove into!!!), and golfball hail.

4. May 29, 2004, on the Oklahoma end of things - massive HP supercell, 5-inch hail, and anticyclonic rotation and likely tornado.

5. April 15, 1998, Red Bud, IL - another mean HP supercell and a tornado.