Awning question what is too much wind

Rule of thumb:
If wind is flapping it more than a little bit or there is any
danger you MIGHT have to replace it OR you might have to get up in middle of night - roll it up.
Simple::)

We don't take chances. On a previous TT, had an awning that was tied down instantly lift and blow over TT roof. Wife inside doing morning dishes was shocked! We were in a mountain region, wind was calm and in an instant a major gust blew out of a valley. Luckily, no roof damage but broken piece on arm & no awning use for remainder of that trip.

We find when the wind gets much over 15 mph its starting to be a problem to handle. At 20 mph its time to roll it for sure. Much after that there is a good chance it will catch the wind and wrap up over the top. We were at a WBCCI Airstream national meeting some years back with about 1100 Airstreams. Most of us just rolled when leaving our rigs as habit. About 300 did not and there were about 300 awings replaced because of one wind storm.

We never leave our awning out if we are not using it. Far easier to just roll it than replace it..

Depends on the conditions. If we are protected by direct wind in a forested site, we don't worry too much. Out in the open we gauge depending on the forecast or whether we are present. If we are away from the trailer we will roll in the awning before we leave. I usually leave the awning up while we are sleeping as either me or the DW seems to detect middle of the night storms and can easily roll up the awning if conditions warrant,even in our sleep (one of the advantages of getting older, we can multitask even during slumber!)

Our Girard awning makes the decision to automatically retract @ 20 mph wind speed thereby relieving me of any responsibility and relieving my wife the job of chewing me out if I fail.

I put it out, carport it, (legs / arms, on the ground) and tie it down, when I setup camp. I roll it up when we leave. It is there to keep rain, and sun off of me, and the outside stuff. If I can't use it for that, it is no good to me.

Why Do I carport? It makes the awning much more stable, and able to withstand much more wind. It also keeps the awning from jerking the trailer around. When the supports are anchored to the side of the RV, They act like a lever, and cause the entire RV to sway with the wind. Making you think the awning is takeing more of a beating than it is.
In the carport position. The supports are sitting on solid ground, and have no effect on the RV.

I pretty sure the TT awning can handel as much wind as my popup campers, and their awnings did over the years. And they took alot.

In this part of the country wind is always an issue. The only time we have our awning out is when it is calm and we are under it. Otherwise we put the awning up. We never leave the awning out when we are not around. Any wind that comes up can quickly get out of hand.

Miles

Like many other RV topics, the answer usually is more of a personal preference than specific information. For instance, I tend to get a little "paranoid" about my awning. When we first started camping we would hang lights on it etc. but a middle-of-the night thunderstorm changed my mind about leaving it open. Going outside in your BVD's after midnight is the kind of excitement I can do without. Now I bring in the awning anytime we leave the campsite, and usually at night unless there is no chance of wind or storms. As far as wind speed, I just keep an eye on it and if it starts flopping around too much I bring it in. In my case probably anything over 20MPH would be enough to roll it up. Others tie their awnings down with all kinds of contraptions but I would rather not worry about it and just bring it in until things calm down. Again, personal preference and comfort level which varies from one person to another.

We never leave it open when we are gone and usually only when we need it for shade. During the winter in AZ our door faces east so we have afternoon shade and don't even bother with the awning.

In Fl in the late spring/early summer a few years ago, with that side facing south, we had it open whenever we were home.

Being from New England, we're hardwired to believe that the weather is always about to change, so we pull in our awning every time we leave the RV (for the day or a walk to the dog park) and every night before bed. You never know and it's not replacing the awning we're afraid of, but the collateral damage it could cause to our RV or the neighbors. Of course, we don't have any jalapeno pepper awning lights or spinning whirligigs or other "décor" attached and our awning folds up with just a pushbutton, so . . .