Storm Chasing

Be careful with that endeavor -- this is what can (and did) happen when Tacomas get in the path of a Tornado


500 new cars totaled here this last May21st

 

Just got a Tacoma for this year. I have been chasing with a Colorado with just a laptop and my phone. Going to work on getting a cell booster, Laptop mount, and my ham radio license.

Thanks for helping clean up after them. I leave supplies in my truck to help with search and rescue if need be. I chase mostly in the hills of Arkansas and Missouri because nobody does really. I hope that I can get eyes on something and give ground truth.

 

Agreed I deleted my not well thought through post. I am a volunteer FF so I get my adrenaline running into fires. If I lived in tornado alley I’d probably do that too. Do you take a Tacoma or something heavy. Does it matter? Got and decent funnel pics?

 

It's the yearly cleaning for the hair huh?

That's cool! When I was younger and kidless I was interested, but life took me another direction! Would love to see what you come across in your endeavors! Be safe out there!

 

Haven't gotten any funnel photos worth anything but I have gotten a couple shelves.

 

You should definitely get your ham license. Lots of us are hams and there are even some active “nets”. As trail comms it obviously blows away CBs and GMRS for distance, and as a storm chaser you can both report to the NWS and talk to other hams to pinpoint touchdowns. Might save you sometime as well!

Plus it’s a great excuse to buy more crap for your truck!

Couple comms threads:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/amateur-ham-radio-bs-and-callsign-thread.260643/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clean-vhf-cb-radio-installs.415584/

 

And it’s good you’re chasing them in a 2017!

 

Yea. I report right now through Spotter Network.

 

Good luck. Welcome to TW for real.

 

I work with the Methodist Church in their disaster relief/response ministry. We run evacuee shelters, secure homes etc for the homeowner to try to prevent additional damage until rebuilding (which we also do) takes place, and the like. I've worked the aftermath of several tornadoes from TX to AL, but none in your neck of the woods. We don't do SAR, that is for pros such as my pastor friend who is a member of Texas Task Force 1.

You might find HurricaneTrack on the web and twitter interesting. Mark Sudduth has been at this for 20 years he said. While his main focus is hurricanes and other tropical events, he studies the inter-relation of all weather as it affects tropical events. As a result of that broad picture, his latest podcast at the end covers continental weather patterns/trends that you as a chaser might find helpful. Nothing very eventful going on now, but it's coming.

Be careful!

 

Part out???

What happened to the vehicles?
Auction yard, repaired?

 

I heard from the Toyota service people -- the whole lot was sold to one buyer/investor. he again had heard that all that were not totaled were going to be half-assed repaired and shipped overseas - where the titles would tell no tales. Clear/clean like nothing had happened to them. The dealer got the insurance money for them and the covering company in turn sold them to this overseas shipper. There was also a whole bunch of GM products that were destroyed as well, this is a Chevy/GMC/Cadillac/Buick dealership right next door to the Toyota building. The GM building was totally lost, and they have been moved to a temp location. It took 3-4 months to repair the Toyota building

 

I don’t chase but will watch from a distance lol. Here’s a Tacoma that does.