What Do Participants Want To Know About Silver Lining Tours, L.C. ??

….click on the link to get your answer.

Q1: WHY ARE YOU OFFERING TOURS?

Q2: WHAT ARE MY CHANCES OF SEEING A TORNADO ON YOUR TOURS?

Q3: WHY ARE YOUR TOURS TEN DAYS IN LENGTH?

Q4: WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN TRYING TO DECIDE WHICH TOUR COMPANY TO CHASE WITH?

Q5: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STORM CHASING TOUR COMPANIES?

Q6: ANOTHER TOUR COMPANY IS WARNING ME TO BEWARE CHASERS WHO DON'T HAVE A FANCY "ON BOARD RADAR". NEED I WORRY THAT YOU ARE TECHNOLOGICALLY DEFICIENT?  THIS OTHER TOUR COMPANY ALSO CLAIMS TO HAVE A SEVERE WEATHER CONSULTANT IN NORMAN, OK ?

Q7: DO YOU ALLOW PEOPLE TO FOLLOW BEHIND THE VANS?

 Q8: WILL YOU BE CHANGING YOUR TOUR SCHEDULE?

Q9: WHAT ARE THE RISKS INVOLVED CHASING STORMS WITH SILVER LINING TOURS?

Q10: WILL THE AREA IN WHICH YOU CHASE DURING THE TOURS BE CONFINED TO THE REGION AROUND OKLAHOMA CITY?

 Q11: CAN YOU GIVE US A REFERENCE - MAYBE SOMEONE WHO HAS JOINED A PAST TOUR?

 Q12: WHY ISN'T YOUR TOUR SCHEDULE CONTIGUOUS FOR THE FORTY DAYS YOU OPERATE?

 Q13: WHY DO YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE TEAM?

Q14:  Which part of the spring and summer are better for storm chasing?

If your question about Silver Lining Tours wasn’t answered by the following “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) please ask the ANSWER MAN!

Q: WHY ARE YOU OFFERING TOURS?

A: Because we really enjoy storm chasing and want to help you realize your lifelong dream of seeing severe storms and tornadoes.

Q: WHAT ARE MY CHANCES OF SEEING A TORNADO ON YOUR TOURS?

A: There are no guarantees of seeing a tornado on any one tour but we will make our best efforts to try to achieve that goal for you. We have the knowledge, experience and equipment to make it happen. Even if you do not see a tornado, chances are very good that you will at least see some very unique storm structure and severe storms. Your chance of seeing a tornado really depends on the type of large-scale weather pattern that is in place during your particular tour, particularly during the early tours. Some patterns are very favorable for severe storms and tornadoes over the Plains States and Midwest (e.g., a large upper level "trough" of low pressure in the Western United States with a corresponding  upper level "ridge" of high pressure in the Eastern U.S.) and some patterns are not (e.g., a significant upper level trough in the Eastern U.S. and an amplified upper level ridge in the west). It is impossible to forecast in advance which atmospheric pattern will be in place for your particular tour. There can be minor variations in these patterns that may allow part of the tour to see increased or decreased activity. To help improve your odds of seeing a tornado we picked our tour dates to correspond to the climatological peak of the Plains and Midwest tornado season. Our calculations show that on a statistical average, roughly the same number of tornado days (days on which significant tornadoes occur in the Midwest or Plains) occur each tour period.

Q: WHY ARE YOUR TOURS TEN DAYS IN LENGTH?

A: After four successful years of tour operation, we have become convinced that ten days is the optimal span for each tour - long enough to see good storms but short enough to fit into a busy, vacation-starved schedule.  We have added new tours during the early summer which are six days in length for our friends with very limited vacation time.

Q: WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN TRYING TO DECIDE WHICH TOUR COMPANY TO CHASE WITH?

A: Make sure they have experience and that they have been successful in the past. Nobody is perfect. Every single chaser makes mistakes and plenty of them. But after being out there for a few years, a tour operator should have amassed enough material worthy of displaying on his or her web site. BEWARE of any tour company whose web site is conspicuously void of photographs or video captures, especially the tour companies that claim to have seen tornadoes on most every tour but do not have any pictures of all these tornadoes to back up their  claims...they're most likely trying to trick you into thinking they had a great year.  We at Silver Lining Tours have pictures of all the supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes our tours intercepted within our extensive photo gallery. We tell you the truth about what we've seen during our tours and we have the photos to back-up our claims. Other tour companies can make fantastic claims about seeing tornadoes during their tours but cannot back these claims up with pictures or video.  We have the proof!!!!!!

Also BEWARE of tour companies that don't give you thorough or truthful documentation of their credentials. Many tour company make claims on their websites  about how they are the best tornado forecasters in the world, but don't have any formal education in the field of meteorology ( if your neighborhood meat butcher claimed to be a doctor you wouldn't go see him to cure an ailment would you!).  The Silver Lining Tour staff has veteran storm chasers with years of  chasing experience, and two of which who have advanced degrees in meteorology, and who are amongst the top tornado forecasters and chasers in the country. We have  the knowledge that the others lack and with us you get what you pay for!

 Beware, one tour company uses past costumers to drive their tour vans.  You should always ask for the credentials of your tour guide drivers. It's very dangerous to have inexperienced tour guides driving your tour van around severe thunderstorms.  Click here to check our tour guides credentials. 

 Many tour companies post photos of tornadoes (which may not even belong to them) on their site to trick you into thinking they shot these photos while on tour.  Here at Silver Lining Tours we document all our photos on this site, to let you know which photos were shot during the tours and which were not.  

We at Silver Lining Tours are totally dedicated storm chasers. You can expect to have a HARD-CORE chasing experience with us. I can at least say this: we will work harder than anyone else to be in the right place at the right time. As you can see from our picture galleries, that hard work has paid off! Why not be a part of these great storm experiences?

Q: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STORM CHASING TOUR COMPANIES?

 A: Good question.  It seems that many so called experts, who we have never heard of or met during our many years of chasing the plains, have magically appeared.  These no-name tour guides are probably just trying to capitalize on the new and emerging market of storm-chasing vacations.  Before choosing a tour company you should ask veteran storm-chasers if they have heard of the tour guides.  You can find many veteran storm chasers on the storm-track online magazine.

Q: ANOTHER TOUR COMPANY IS WARNING ME TO BEWARE CHASERS WHO DON'T HAVE A FANCY "ON BOARD RADAR". NEED I WORRY THAT YOU ARE TECHNOLOGICALLY DEFICIENT? THIS OTHER TOUR COMPANY ALSO CLAIMS TO HAVE A SEVERE WEATHER CONSULTANT IN NORMAN, OK?

A: We have PLENTY of equipment to get the job done. Please refer to our 2001 Information page for a list of some of our devices. With our current technology we have no problems with getting data at any time while on the road. 

One tour company uses a small non-Doppler radar which they fix to the top of their vehicle, this radar is totally useless during a storm chase.  These commercial low-power radars units (called marine radars, since they are only suppose to be used on small boats) have such limited range you would need to be right under the storm to get any type of reflectivity signature.  They also interfere with atmospheric scientist who are conducting  important research with portable Doppler radars. 

FORECASTING SKILLS put you in the right place at the right time, not reliance on some gadget of dubious veracity. Ask this other company why, given their fantastic claims, they were in central Texas during the May 3 Oklahoma tornado outbreak of 1999, and where were they during the Iowa tornado outbreak of May 11, 2000?

One tour company claims to have a severe weather consultant residing in Norman, Oklahoma. This service isn't exclusive to this one tour company, every chaser who wants to use Tim Vasquez's Chase Hot Line (based in Norman, OK) may do so, it's definitely not a service exclusive to this other tour company. We recommend his fine service.

Q: DO YOU ALLOW PEOPLE TO FOLLOW BEHIND THE VANS?

A: Only media or experienced chasers are allowed to do so. Each participant occupies a seat in a van being driven by an experienced, seasoned storm chaser. It is VERY dangerous for novice storm chasers to follow in their own cars. Some tour companies are allowing novices to tag along for a fee. This is great for the tour operator and bad for you.

First of all, think of how difficult it will be to keep such a caravan together under high stress storm chasing conditions! You will almost certainly become separated from the leader at some point and if you think the operator will be able to keep track of you, the storm and navigating the tour van(s) think again! It just isn't going to happen.

Secondly, think of the costs you will incur. The cheapest tour out there will charge you $50/day plus $10 per additional passenger to follow along. For two weeks that adds up to $700 just to follow along behind someone. Here are your other MINIMUM expenses: GAS: $50/day CAR RENTAL: $250/week U/L mileage LODGING: $60/night and the list goes on...you will spend more to follow somebody around, probably getting totally lost in the bargain, than occupying a space in one of our well-equipped and staffed vans!

Q: WILL YOU BE CHANGING YOUR TOUR SCHEDULE?

A: Absolutely not! Our schedule is fixed for the '02 season. You can plan your vacation with us knowing that the dates you choose are solid.

Q: WHAT ARE THE RISKS INVOLVED CHASING STORMS WITH SILVER LINING TOURS? 

A: The risks are substantially lower chasing with us than on your own.  We at Silver Lining Tours have only veteran storm chasers driving our tour vans.  This experience will greatly reduce the chances of any mishaps while driving during the tours.  In fact, during the last 30 years of storm chasing there has never been a fatality reported amongst chasers in the vicinity of a storm.  The only death related to storm chasing occurred during the mid 1980s when an undergraduate meteorology student, from the University of Oklahoma, lost control of his car on a rain-slick road during the late morning hours on his way to a storm chase.  Overall Storm Chasing Tours are one of the safest adventure vacations you can participate in.  To find out more about safe chasing click here.  

Q: WILL THE AREA IN WHICH YOU CHASE DURING THE TOURS BE CONFINED TO THE REGION AROUND OKLAHOMA CITY?

A: Absolutely not! We will take you to the area we think is most likely to experience tornado activity on any given day. We don't care where this area is: you are paying money to see supercells and tornadoes and we will do whatever it takes within some reasonable space/time perimeter to make it happen, even if we have to travel to the Rio Grande River or to the prairies of south-central Canada. Or from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains east to the corn fields of Ohio. Silver Lining Tours will take you to the best place our formidable forecasting skills can identify. In 1999 we witnessed a beautiful tornado in eastern Montana!  In 2000 we observed large tornadoes in northeast Iowa, and in 2001 we saw large tornadoes in southern and western Minnesota. Also in 2001 we intercepted a beautiful supercell thunderstorm which produced a funnel cloud in southeast Saskatchewan, Canada.  This was our second voyage into Canada, in 1999 during tour number 4 we chased supercells which evolved into a squall line near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. We are the first tour company to have chased storms in Canada, and we have never had any problems with border crossings.  We get vehicles unfettered by mileage restrictions thus enabling us to take you wherever the tornadoes may form.  Even with the high price of gasoline this season will not deter us from going to the best area for tornado formation across the country.  After all we want to see tornadoes just as badly as you do.

Q: CAN YOU GIVE US A REFERENCE - MAYBE SOMEONE WHO HAS JOINED A PAST TOUR?

A: Yes. Please contact David Gold at stormtours@earthlink.net or call me at (713) 952-2066.  Also check at our new testimonial page.

Q: WHY ISN'T YOUR TOUR SCHEDULE CONTIGUOUS FOR EACH SEASON YOU OPERATE?

A: Oh, you noticed. The down day between tours is for your benefit. This is so you don't have to spend any part of the ten tour days traveling to or from Oklahoma City. You're paying your hard-earned money for our tour and we are not going to short-change you by making your last tour day a travel day back to the base city.

Q: WHY DO YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE TEAM?

A: Bill and I have been friends and chase partners for over ten years now. We started this business to pay for our chasing expenses thereby allowing us to finally chase without going broke. We work very well together as a chase team. We have excellent tornado forecasting and chasing skills. In this instance the old adage does apply: "two heads are better then one" -- Three and more just makes it that much better. Since our entire staff has excellent driving records and all have driven on countless chases we alleviate the problem of "fatigued driver syndrome". You can always be assured of having a good alert driver behind the wheel at all times. You can count on the tours to continue operating in the unlikely event that one of us becomes ill or needs to attend to a personal emergency. Any one of our tour guides is very capable of running the tour on their own if need be. Having several tour operators will allow us to answer all of your storm chasing-related questions and describe better what to look for while on chase. With a team, we can cover more ground tutoring you on the tools needed for forecasting and chasing tornadoes. Thus... you will get individual attention.  In late 1999 we hired veteran storm chaser Roger Hill. In 2000 we hired veteran storm chaser Gene Rohden.  Both Roger and Gene are excellent storm chaser.  The addition of both Roger and Gene to our team has greatly improve the tours!