I hope everyone here has gotten through the recent storms okay. We had one Friday that was fading but hit some upper level winds that energized it and we got hammered. I had a tree that I was going to trim but that's a moot point now. It's cut up and on a trailer to go to the dump now. Boonville Indiana has been closed for the last two days due to a state of emergency because of damage.I bring this up because my neighbor was watching out his window and in a break in the rain (visibility of a few feet) he could see my GMC class B up on two wheels and leaning against a tree. Outside of picking some loose stuff up off the floor, it didn't hurt it any. I even spent a few hours in it while waiting for the power to come back. This is a unit with an empty weight of 6100 pounds and has full water tanks adding another 700 or so pounds. In other words, forget how much it cost. Take shelter. Insurance will cover the RV but you and your family are more important.I know Nebraska and Iowa is getting hit now and it'll be our turn again Tuesday. Folks, I'm thinking of you, good luck.

Good to hear :)Raking all those leaves through the years paid off LOLGlad you're save

I have been wondering for a while where I should seek shelter if there is a storm where I am. I do scrutinize weather reports carefully before I set out to drive each day because I dont drive in bad weather. But if it is headed my way, then what do I do? Is there a travel app that locals the nearest public storm shelter?

Glad everyone's okay.drsolo wrote:I have been wondering for a while where I should seek shelter if there is a storm where I am. I do scrutinize weather reports carefully before I set out to drive each day because I dont drive in bad weather. But if it is headed my way, then what do I do? Is there a travel app that locals the nearest public storm shelter?Great question! Heading for concrete walled anything if it's nearby would be good. Sometimes you just don't have time and have to head for any building that seems sturdy. It's better than roughing it out in a vehicle.

We have often talked about "The topic" of this thread. We typically listen to either AM or FM radio when driving in a stormy situation. What is frustrating is that the radio announcer knows the names of the counties and towns in the area. They then identify those susceptible to high winds, floods, fire, tornados, or worse.We consider ourselves lucky if we know the highway we should be driving to get to our next turn. Not sure how to correct that even if we know our GPS location, the announcers do not use GPS co-ordinates.

Gene in NE wrote:We have often talked about "The topic" of this thread. We typically listen to either AM or FM radio when driving in a stormy situation. What is frustrating is that the radio announcer knows the names of the counties and towns in the area. They then identify those susceptible to high winds, floods, fire, tornados, or worse.We consider ourselves lucky if we know the highway we should be driving to get to our next turn. Not sure how to correct that even if we know our GPS location, the announcers do not use GPS co-ordinates.I know exactly what you are saying. We have been traveling and hear radio reports of severe storms - all identified by counties but we have had no idea if we were in those counties, had already passed those counties, or are about to drive right into the storm. Town names might be better as at least you see those on the exit signs but this seems to be the fairly consistent reporting method. And there is not much to do but keep going and hope that it is not where you are heading.

Storms. | Good Sam Community

11 Replies

RayUSMC
Explorer II
May 20, 2014
Here's a good reason to watch the skies. The vid on this article is a time lapse of a supercell formation. The article explains the who/what/how.
http://m.theweek.com/speedreads/index/261837/speedreads-storm-chasers-capture-unbelievable-looking-supercell-thunderstorm-on-camera

RayUSMC wrote:
Seems like watching the sky and knowing signs of foul weather is the answer. Then dash into a hotel or other place that has a tv playing and ask them about what the weather warnings are saying. If there's weather warnings, stay put in the building until it passes or ask for the nearest shelter.

We always watch the skies while on the road. It's just good battle sense.
ol__grouch
Explorer
May 15, 2014
One thing to remember, our toys have huge sides that wind likes to hit. That's why it's so.....interesting, to drive on a windy day with side gusts. Mine was up on two wheels for a moment and the tree it keaned against kept it from going over. Granted, 120 mph winds do things lesser winds don't.

If severe storms are coming, seek shelter. A quick thunder storm that pops up all of a sudden, nose your unit into the wind if you can. If you can drive 70 down the highway, 45 mph winds on the nose won't be a problem.
PSW
Explorer
May 15, 2014
We always use the National Weather Service site. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/radar_tab.php is a place to start. They have tons of information and you can easily just click the radar closest to your location and get a map on the screen that will show the storms. You can get a forecast, plus any warnings.

Local TV stations always sensationalize weather during storm season and I determined years ago to rely on the NWS. You can get as little or more information than you need anywhere in the country. Spend some time learning the site and you will be more relaxed and know whats going on.

I live in an area with severe storms and we have learned around here to be always weather aware, take a look at forecasts before we go and see what we will run into along the way.

I find radio stations, frankly, to be useless. Most are chain owned and simply repeat some feed. The great days of a real weather guy at a local radio station are gone in most of the country, certainly gone in the non metro areas. Often they will read scripts that are hours old and can be quite misleading.
Spleenstomper
Explorer
May 14, 2014
An acquaintance of mine was headed to kentucky derby a few weeks ago and had just set up camp in Athens, Alabama when they were under a tornado warning. She heard a banging on her door and it was a civil defense worker there telling them they had to grab their dogs, get in the car (class C with a toad) and follow him. They (all from the Rv park) drove straight toward the large funnel cloud and then parked at the storm shelter, went down into the "bowels of hell" as she called it with several hundred of her new best friends and had to stay down there for 3 hours. When they returned to the RV park, all was well but they had left the windows open in their haste and so had to clean up the flooding in the class C. Oh, they had trouble getting back to the RV park since trees, power lines, etc were down so they used google maps to direct them in a roundabout way to get there.

Of course, this isn't about driving in bad weather, but I thought this was a very interesting story about what happened to her....
mlts22
Explorer II
May 14, 2014
In a pinch, there are weather radar apps available. Between that and watching the sky when I'm on the road, I've been lucky so far. A few years back, I was camping, saw smoke on the horizon, checked local news sites, and spent the next 15 minutes getting the heck out of Dodge... managed to hit the road just a couple miles ahead of some of the biggest forest fires to have ever hit Central Texas.
RayUSMC
Explorer II
May 14, 2014
Seems like watching the sky and knowing signs of foul weather is the answer. Then dash into a hotel or other place that has a tv playing and ask them about what the weather warnings are saying. If there's weather warnings, stay put in the building until it passes or ask for the nearest shelter.

We always watch the skies while on the road. It's just good battle sense.
1775
Explorer
May 13, 2014
Gene in NE wrote:
We have often talked about "The topic" of this thread. We typically listen to either AM or FM radio when driving in a stormy situation. What is frustrating is that the radio announcer knows the names of the counties and towns in the area. They then identify those susceptible to high winds, floods, fire, tornados, or worse.

We consider ourselves lucky if we know the highway we should be driving to get to our next turn. Not sure how to correct that even if we know our GPS location, the announcers do not use GPS co-ordinates.

I know exactly what you are saying. We have been traveling and hear radio reports of severe storms - all identified by counties but we have had no idea if we were in those counties, had already passed those counties, or are about to drive right into the storm. Town names might be better as at least you see those on the exit signs but
this seems to be the fairly consistent reporting method. And there is not much to do but keep going and hope that it is not where you are heading.
Gene_in_NE
Explorer III
May 12, 2014
We have often talked about "The topic" of this thread. We typically listen to either AM or FM radio when driving in a stormy situation. What is frustrating is that the radio announcer knows the names of the counties and towns in the area. They then identify those susceptible to high winds, floods, fire, tornados, or worse.

We consider ourselves lucky if we know the highway we should be driving to get to our next turn. Not sure how to correct that even if we know our GPS location, the announcers do not use GPS co-ordinates.
RayUSMC
Explorer II
May 12, 2014
Glad everyone's okay.
drsolo wrote:
I have been wondering for a while where I should seek shelter if there is a storm where I am. I do scrutinize weather reports carefully before I set out to drive each day because I dont drive in bad weather. But if it is headed my way, then what do I do? Is there a travel app that locals the nearest public storm shelter?

Great question! Heading for concrete walled anything if it's nearby would be good. Sometimes you just don't have time and have to head for any building that seems sturdy. It's better than roughing it out in a vehicle.
drsolo
Nomad
May 12, 2014
I have been wondering for a while where I should seek shelter if there is a storm where I am. I do scrutinize weather reports carefully before I set out to drive each day because I dont drive in bad weather. But if it is headed my way, then what do I do? Is there a travel app that locals the nearest public storm shelter?

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Storms.

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