August 19th 2009 storm chase (Tornado confirmed)

[purplepixiechic]

i was in town when this tornado happened,,,,god it scared me.....i heard it and ran to the basment with my mother and dogs and the lights went off,my dad was actually driving when it happened and he said he wasnt to far off from it

[MIDSCAR1]

@purplepixiechic Glad you took shelter...the storms that day weren't to be messed around with! There were 6 long track tornadoes in central IL this day, one of them being this one

[Sgtellzo]

also you know the person over the radio that keeps talking about tornados in the following counties is that an automated service or is someone reading it of a big list?

[Sgtellzo]

what happened to the video of you and your mate, looking at the damage of the tornado?

[MIDSCAR1]

That actually is a good question. Must have got removed somehow! I'll see what happened and get it put back up

[MIDSCAR1]

@stormtracker05 Couldn't drive straight...we were on the west side of Lake Springfield (probably our saving grace). Had the lake not been there...we probably would have driven into the tornado. The tornado is confirmed by the way...EF1 with 110mph winds about 100 yards wide

[IowaStormspotter]

As a spotter myself, last season was my first. so i didnt travel. this year i plan on traveling a lot. hes right hazards dont work aswell. people cant see you as well. deff in my car my hazards r lower then more cars.

[pittresident]

Are you guys seriously driving down the road with an amber light active? Why? What purpose does that serve? All that is doing is saying "hey, look at me". Headlights and emergency flashers work just fine.

[MIDSCAR1]

Yes...we're seriously driving down the road with the lights active. I've edited a lot out of the video, so what you CANT see is how often and quickly the visibility would drop. That's one reason. People drive like idiots, and amber lights the the most effect. Flashers are NOT in my opinion, good enough. People will tend to drive TOWARDS flashers. Amber lights on a lightbar tell people coming behind me to pass with caution. I DO use the lights much LESS often after this day

[pittresident]

Whatever, lamer.

[MIDSCAR1]

I also use the lights for things OTHER than chasing. Protecting accident scenes is a good one. That one happens a lot with how much I drive

[KevinZGreen]

Which is pretty much illegal...

[MIDSCAR1]

@KevinZGreen It isn't illegal. What makes you think that? Cops like the help believe it or not until more police arrive at the scene

[LuvsTstormTapes]

I love all parts of this real awesome video..I love the 'smooth car ride'' since your high-tech camcorder was snugly mounted on your chase-car's rear-view mirror. I was really impressed with the frequent CG-lightning 1st 3 mins of this show!!! Talking about lightning-exactly 10 years to the day of your video, on 8/19/99-I got in the mail a copied video of some awesome lightning/thunder from Odessa/Midland TX from a ''Tstorm-video bud'' met on the Internet..cool, eh? Adding this to my FAVs!!

[MIDSCAR1]

Its actually next to the rear view mirror, not on it. The lightning was pretty intense, and even knocked my electronic compass out of whack for about a month! Glad you like and make sure to keep watching when spring 2010 comes! Going to be doing a lot of chasing (with good results I hope)

[N5351A]

Also if you step into some states with a lightbar not only is it illegal, it also qualifies as impersonating an officer and then an officer can arrest you under that charge. I've seen it happen to chasers. Don't let it happen to you.

[MIDSCAR1]

I understand that their illegal...and the only reason I had them was because I USED to be on a team that would misuse them. I'm very careful when I use them, and where I use them. Illinios is especially picky on lighting, but so far I've had no issues. Thanks for the concern though

[N5351A]

FYI...In Illinois it is illegal to have an amber lightbar on your vehicle, unless you meet certain requirements, which you don't meet.

Read into your statutes: (625 ILCS 5/12‑215) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 12‑215) Sec. 12‑215. Oscillating, rotating or flashing lights on motor vehicles. Except as otherwise provided in this Code:

(b) The use of amber oscillating, rotating or flashing lights, whether lighted or unlighted, is prohibited

[StormChaseDotTV]

actually, It is ILLEGAL to drive around with your lightbar on, going more than 25mph. Also, YOU CANNOT USE YOUR LIGHTBAR TO GAIN RIGHT-OF-WAY, such as running stop signs, red lights, etc. It's absurd for you to think of yourself as anything other than a member of the general public. Storm chasers are not emergency vehicles.

[StormChaseDotTV]

In fact, pretending to be super-chaser with your lightbar on driving through moderate rain in the down-draft region is not only laughable, but puts the public in danger. What if someone got into an accident trying to get out of your way?

[MIDSCAR1]

How exactly would my lights put them in danger? Not exactly sure what you mean by that

[MIDSCAR1]

As I mentioned in the video everyone moves out of the way ON THEIR OWN! If their stupid enough to pull over for AMBER lights then thats their fault. And as for when we run our lightbar...for NOW ON we use it on the side of the road and in low visibility situations. A lot was learned from this chase, and that was one of them

[KevinZGreen]

And you admit that you are confusing people. You admit your lights are confusing people who are idiots? What kind of person admit they want to confuse idiots?

[MIDSCAR1]

@KevinZGreen Yes I admitted it and i'm pretty sure I said after this chase i saw I needed to change when I used them. It's all a learning experience and this chase was 1 of them

[Sgtellzo]

are there ay specials laws storm chasers must follow, such as different traffic laws and are there laws for the general public when there are storm chaser vehicles near them?

[MIDSCAR1]

To my knowing, at least in Illinois, there is no "special laws" for storm chasers and the same goes for the general public when they see us nearby. The only thing they would have to do is if we're off the side of the road with our lights on, they would either have to slow down or move over to give us room

[Sgtellzo]

cheers mate, you had many storms at all? also you thought of having other colour lights on you car/truck. i take it you can use blue coz thats for the police and sheriff cars, but then i guess red is for fire & ambulance, and then green is for volenteer paramedics? Im only guess from what ive seen and read from other youtube videos, as ive said in another commet im form the UK so all our emergency services use blue except for doctor cars which have a green lights.

[MIDSCAR1]

Compared to 2006 we didn't have much but it seemed like we had more INTENSE storms that we chased. As for other colors, those would be illegal for us storm chasers. The amber we have are even iffy. In our situation, it all depends on the cop. Unless we're very close, parked on the side of the road, or in a low visibility situation we run our lights. Other than that we have them turned off

[Sgtellzo]

I think if it makes you safe, ie drivers can see you from a distance then its really good to use your ambers. i take it you'll have to wait till next summer untill the next set of tornados and chasing. I actually did a driving lesson in weather like this, but it must have lasted for about 10-15 minutes, 20 max, but it was a really big thunderstorm, with the really dark clouds and the big flashes, this was in august just gone, just a couple of days before my driving test.

[k00lguy12345]

OMG i was in this storm i live in williamsville :0

[MIDSCAR1]

Oh really? How did you fare with the tornado there? We ALMOST decided for Williamsville but decided Springfield instead

[nanners99]

good video! you were on Toronto Road which is still in Springfield city limits, just thought you'd like to know. that was close, be more careful next time!

[MIDSCAR1]

We definatly were close. Closer than we wanted to be! Plenty learned on this chase to be used for the next time we're out chasing

[StormChaseGroup]

Is that central IL? I live in Herrin, extreme southern IL.

[MIDSCAR1]

Yeah, that's in east central illinois. It's where I-74 and I-57 meet together

[StormChaseGroup]

where yall from in IL?

[MIDSCAR1]

Urbana, IL

[ghostdrew1]

at 5:18 off to the right looks like there was a power flash

[llbr3802]

Hey Chris! You guys did good as always. We had 2 confirmed touchdowns in Kane County. damage was EF-1 and EF-0. I got damage pics but the tubes rain wrapped before I could snap off a couple. It was a surprise considering the conditions and radar. All it showed was maybe moderate rain at best but there was a small hook in a couple images. Not a bad day though. So, when I get out your way, for a chase or something, we will have to get together. Ben

[MIDSCAR1]

Tell me about it. I thought with the cloud cover we wouldnt see much. This day proved me wrong. I think it even took the NWS and SPC by surprise too. If your going to be in the area, let me know. As you said we could chase together

[Zukiekie]

Wow, once again you're close to me! Good chase guys, keep up the good work.

[MIDSCAR1]

Where do you live again?

[IowaStormspotter]

Dude mid i need to go chasing with u sometime.. we never get nything bad down this way.

[MIDSCAR1]

What area you live in?

[IowaStormspotter]

Look at that inflow tail... looks like 4:27 keft side of the cloud u guys were goign towards... possible lowering.. dnt u hate how ppl dnt get the hell oputa ur way??

[MIDSCAR1]

I would have passed the guy on the right, but I was nervous to. Afraid once I started passing him he would pull in front of me

[IowaStormspotter]

hey bud send me some pics of ur setup in ur truck through my email.. i wanna c how u have ur scanner set up.. and that ur dad in front of u guys?? C with my car i have my mini bar uptop as u know.. what ppl DNT see is i have a dash light on my windshield.. it hides well untill its needed then itll blind ya rofl.. O and DNT let ur friend drive anymore hes not fast enough... and any1 who thinks i dnt know what im talking about email me.. im a spotter/chaser myself..

[MIDSCAR1]

Actually I was the one driving. My friend was the navigator. I'll put a video up once i'm done getting everything in my truck set up ok?

[stormspinner1]

AMAZING CGs - 5/5 stars!

[MIDSCAR1]

Thanks! Had lightning so close it has thrown my electronic compass in my truck off by 90 degrees

[momotous]

You got slowed up with the town. I assume you lost it after you turned. This time of year you need a good bean field.

[MIDSCAR1]

Didn't help with running into town. I should have stayed on I-72 longer instead getting off at I-55. The turn at the end of the video was when we pretty much lost it. I'll have damage video up later today

[shadowcat7879]

I got stuck in this storm as I was leaving Jacksonville, heading to Beardstown. I think that we lucked out somewhat in our timing. I managed to get some good pictures after it was behind us, but theyre on my phone and no way to share.

[MIDSCAR1]

Sounds like you did luck out. I know soon after the storm passed over Jacksonville, it produced its first tornado. The storm at the second half of the video is the one from Jacksonville we chased

[IowaStormspotter]

u can email them to urself Via txt message.. from there im sure u could email Mid and he would upload

[shadowcat7879]

hehe yeah if you pay for that service.. which I don't :) Thanks though :)