How often do chasers see tornadoes?
Most experienced chasers don’t keep close score — since tornadoes are only a part of the experience — but the loose average is about 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 trips. This, of course, depends on one’s personal thresholds for what kinds of weather situations to chase, and the chaser’s definition of and tolerance for busts. Some very talented chasers willing to drive after almost any severe weather threat have gone 50 or 60 chases and several years without seeing a single tornado. During unusually active periods, others may see several per day for up to a week. On the very rarest of days, those once in a lifetime events like 3 May 1999, a chaser may see 10 or 15 tornadoes. Others may never experience a day like that; and anyone who expects to see a tornado every trip will quickly become disappointed, frustrated and disillusioned. Tornadoes are just not very common!
