FALSE REPORTS FROM UNEXPERIENCED CHASERS

[Karla Dorman]

I'm inexperienced. To me, a SLC might look tornadic, but why I'm here, to learn from other chasers. If I have questions to what I'm looking at, I'll always ask for your opinions, to help me understand storms/structure better. And I do appreciate your help and honesty.

[Jim Hawkins]

Valid points of view on all sides.
I'm just going to share that this past year was my first year formally chasing, and I did learn from the experiences I had (despite it being a bust year in general). My choosing to chase was not one that I developed myself however.
When I decided I was going to just "do it", I showed up to this forum looking for help, having no presuppositions about what I knew or what I could do. I came here being honest about myself, knowing that I knew nothing, and seeking the knowledge, learning, and also meeting others who shared this new-found passion I had.
My actually turning that interest into reality wasn't by my own design though. It was the result of contact with others here with experience, who were willing to share and teach me what they'd learned themselves.
I will specifically mention Fabian Guerra here, who responded willingly to my first calls for assistance and answered many of my "total newbie" questions very willingly and turned me onto the 'safety' factor right away, when it comes to chasing. We talked on the phone quite a bit, and he both answered my questions, and probed my attitude, I'm presuming because he wanted to know if I was 'the real deal'. Apparently he must've felt so, because over the next few weeks,
he was willing not only to answer questions, but was also willing to let me shadow him on some chases too. He specifically got me to get the "Storm Chasers Handbook", which proved to be an invaluable teaching tool.
Sadly, the actual chases with Fabian never happened because he was killed while avoiding a deer on westbound I-80 on his way to meet up with others to chase. I was supposed to meet him in the target area, and I got there, but he never did. I only found out after I got home what had happened. (And actually, he invited me to go with him on this trip, but I had to decline because I'd already committed to work that Saturday).
IMHO, he represented the spirit of chasing and what it means to be a true storm chaser. Both teacher and student at the same time.

[Ryan Moats]

Originally Posted by Shane Adams

I agree with Jason. There's no shame in being inexperienced, because we all were at one point. I'll never belittle a chaser for being a rookie or newbie and not knowing much. However, it's imperative that rooks and newbs watch and listen more, talk less. A rookie chaser has no business calling in detailed reports (other than an obvious tornado, hail, high winds, or flooding). Drives me nuts to hear the "heavy wall cloud strong rotation" type of reports from a guy who's been out there one or two years. They're still learning basic structure/behavior knowledge,and need to keep their eyes and ears open and mouths closed. Discuss amongst your own group what you think you might be seeing....but do not open up the mic or dial the cell phone and start spouting off things you don't know.

New chasers are not the issue. Their tendency to believe they're further along than they really are is the issue, which IMO is a direct result of technology. I shared the field back in March of this year with a newbie chaser, on a very benign day. To hear this guy rattle on about every little cloud or wind gust, you'd think he was Tim Marshall. I knew right away there was no point in even trying to educate this guy; he already knew everything.

Sometimes I feel like a chaser is better off just putting themselves into the frying pan through mistakes caused by inexperience. I've tried to give advice but in recent years it seems newbs get offended more than they appreciate the effort. IMO it's not worth the headache in most cases, because it's hard to convince a guy who got lucky with GR3 a few times that he doesn't really know what he's doing out there. Maybe sending the newbs out with no computer would be the best tool? Sure worked for a lot of veterans I know.

As a new chaser myself, i absolutely agree with you. We all start out somewhere and we all earn our experience and knowledge.

Though i've given reports to spotternetwork, i've been quickly learning to slow down and make sure what i'm seeing is accurate to my fullest ability and expectations of others before hitting that report button.

As a newb, i'm all in learning mode and simply learning from others such as you. I also agree if i become a idiot and fail in understanding and learning of meteorology, chasing, anything weather, definitely be in the very best interest to be very much in the bleeders section than down on the field coaching if that makes any sense.

Simply, i'll watch and enjoy and keep learning, but i won't be the big shot trying to get on tv and freaking out on the so called tornado, wall cloud, cloud... i saw and not wasting the time of the people who do know what there doing.

[Paul Hadfield]

One thing I learned early on and still apply is don't be afraid to admit uncertainty. Using expressions like "possible" or "might be" is much more valuable to the warning process than making an absolute statement that doesn't verify on the other end and simply creates more confusion. On May 30th of this year I had just such an experience where I saw a very suspicious feature but was simply too far away to be sure what was actually happening.

This is how the storm appeared at my vantage point from a distance of several miles, note the area of interest.


The 300mm brought the scene into clarity yet there were two things I could not determine for being so far which was a.) rotation and b.) ground level activity due to horizon blocking.


I reported this feature as a wall cloud but also pointed out those aspects I was not able to determine. ILX concluded there wasn't much happening on velocity so a tornado warning was not issued but nevertheless, they monitored it closely. I of course did not blow my credibility with sensational reporting.

I couldn't see the video for this thread which is probably another prime example for 2009 as to what the community as a whole is not, but just wanted to reiterate that caution and honesty are just as if not more valuable than experience.

[Jason Boggs]

I saw this scene this year on June 8th near Stamford, TX. It looks like a tornado, or at least a funnel that's very low to the ground, but I was at least 20 miles away from it. I cropped the picture here, so it looks closer than it really was. The storm was tornado warned, but I hesitated to call it in because I couldn't discern any rotation. The feature went away after a few minutes. Could this have been a tornado? Sure it could have, but I wanted to leave it up to someone with a better and closer view to call it in.

I have seen many tornado look a likes, but this one may be the best if it was not indeed a tornado.

[Danny Neal]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k724Jlsh8Zw - I am speechless...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI7oA...eature=related ...... nevermind the speechless part.

Just think... these people are out there under the MIDSCAR1 Spotter Network Icon actually making reports....

[Bart_Comstock]

Originally Posted by Danny Neal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k724Jlsh8Zw - I am speechless...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI7oA...eature=related ...... nevermind the speechless part.

Just think... these people are out there under the MIDSCAR1 Spotter Network Icon actually making reports....

These same Yahoos move traffic with their lightbars and can be seen in this video(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfAmQFHXQwo) running a red light.

[Jason Boggs]

Originally Posted by Danny Neal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k724Jlsh8Zw - I am speechless...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI7oA...eature=related ...... nevermind the speechless part.

Just think... these people are out there under the MIDSCAR1 Spotter Network Icon actually making reports....

That's pathetic. I like the enthusiasm with the Dad and his children, but come on. They really need to get a lot more training before they make reports.

[Jason Boggs]

Originally Posted by Bart_Comstock

can be seen in this video(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfAmQFHXQwo) running a red light.

Running a red light to me is not as big a deal as giving false reports. We've all ran red lights or stop signs while chasing one time or another. If you can honestly say you haven't, then you haven't chased long enough.

I guarantee that all the chaser police that cry and whine about running red lights and stop signs will eventually catch themselves doing it some day. It may be because it's a dirt road with no traffic, or it may be from escaping danger in a busy town. I promise it will happen sooner or later. If you have a tornado bearing down on your ass from 200-300 yards away at night, you'll do things that you wouldn't normally do. I'm not proud of it, but I have firsthand experience.

[Jason Boggs]

Originally Posted by Bart_Comstock

These same Yahoos move traffic with their lightbars and can be seen in this video(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfAmQFHXQwo) running a red light.

I think you may have given a wrong link here. I never saw them move traffic with their lightbar. I did see traffic move over for them, but they sure weren't being made to move over. Also, I really didn't see them run a red light either. I really think they were driving quite safe if you ask me.