A chase starts the night before with the SPC outlook and model soundings, narrows to a target area by mid-morning, and comes down to one decision by early afternoon: which storm, and which road keeps you ahead of it with an escape route south or east. The storm doesn’t care about your plan — the road network is half the forecast.
The non-negotiables: a full tank at every stop, paper maps for when data drops, eyes on the radar loop and the sky in equal measure, and absolute respect for the rain-wrapped core. Most chaser close calls aren’t tornadoes — they’re hydroplaning, hail cores, and other drivers. Chase logs, routes and gear talk from the field land here and on the community boards.
Write-ups from the field — read them and post your own.
How a chase target gets picked, start to finish.
The kit that survives the field, radios to data.
