Tornados for Dummies

dbbls wrote:
Watch a local TV station. They will show you the location of the storm and the projected path. You will have plenty of warning in time to move your rig to safety. I have lived in tornado alley for 76 years and have never seen a tornado. I would never go to California because of the earthquakes. :)

and if you ask 90% of the people in earthquake land, they will all say you're crazy to live in Tornado land.

BTW- You might want to read THIS on the history of the New Madrid fault in MISSOURI, where one of the strongest quakes on the planet occurred in the 1800's, and in geological time, that's about breakfast time this morning. The aftershocks produced by that event were stronger than most of the main quakes Calif., and they went on for 6+ years. Faults are everywhere. The problem is that the rest of this country with the exception of Calif. chooses to ignore any EQ building codes or prep whatsoever, and one day will pay for it.

To the OP: get yourself a good NOAA Wx radio, and learn to program it. At least you have a little warning and can figure out the plan B

First I look at www.weather.com before we travel to our next stop. They have a section for severe outlook with Torcon index. It looks ahead about 3-5 days. If a front is moving through, it usually moves from the SW to the NE. (not always).
Then we decide whether to stay put, move south away from the approaching storms or go ahead and get to our next stop before they arrive. If you get caught in an area and can't avoid the storms, we use a weather radio with S.A.M.E. technology and leave the county on "all" this gives more warning of approaching storms in surrounding counties. Just scan for the strongest radio signal. I locate the county where we are and make note of other surrounding counties. I ask the park manager where the shelter is located. Learn the difference between "watch" and "warning". In 5 years of full timing we have only had to go to a shelter 3x. Once in Florida, once in Ohio and once in Oklahoma. Once in IL this year we left the park in our toad and drove south to another town and had dinner while the storms passed the campground.

Our last year anniversary we ate at a steakhouse in OK City. We talked to a local rancher in his 50’s who said he had never seen a tornado in his life, either, and we thought that must be the exception to the rule. Especially since we came in right behind the Moore tornado and went through the area a couple of days later. WWII films of bombed out and destroyed cities had nothing on it.

I was once caught in a tornado without any warning and I really don’t want to repeat the experience. I was 18 and in the Army in KY, on the second floor of a barracks. It was a bit before dawn and I woke up because my face was wet and I heard a tremendous roar. My face was wet because the roof was being pulled away from the sides and rain was coming in on my face. Most of the platoon was already up and dressed and running around in a semi-panic. It was impressive; I saw shingles, garbage cans and other debris going horizontally past my window. And there was so much lightening it was light outside with flashes of dark. When it passed we had to go dig out a company that had been on bivouac in the boonies. The county is rolling, forested hills and some distance from camp you could see a white swath coming across the hills where the trees had been stripped of their bark. So we hadn’t even been in the strongest part of the storm. Even more impressive.

Awareness of the weather is most important because it gives you time to find shelter or move out of the path. And, as mentioned, there are many types of shelters in tornado country; I’ve seen them in banks and even supermarkets. If you have enough warning, just asking a local where the nearest shelter is should work. If caught with little time to react, I would likely just take off perpendicular to its path; I can cover a mile pretty fast with enough motivation.:) Caught in the boonies I’d probably head for the nearest, deepest ravine.

It’s nothing to be paranoid about, as many times as I’ve traveled tornado alley county and seemingly always during prime tornado season, I’ve never personally seen one. But I do keep track of the weather and am prepared to run for cover if I have to.

dbbls wrote:
Watch a local TV station. They will show you the location of the storm and the projected path. You will have plenty of warning in time to move your rig to safety. I have lived in tornado alley for 76 years and have never seen a tornado. I would never go to California because of the earthquakes. :)

Earthquakes are not a major problem, unless a large one strikes and major metro area. "Shaken, not stirred." In my 70 yrs, I've never had any damage. My parents had a few broken dishes from large (7.3) Tehachapi 'Quake in 1952. Fear of the unknown.

I'll take a quaked over golf ball to baseball size hail.

DO NOT PARK UNDER A BRIDGE !! The wind vectors under there will KILL you.

If you have a smart phone, get the Tornado app. Because it knows where you are by using cell towers it will send you an audible and visual warning of watches and more importantly warnings in your immediate area. Of course this only works where there is cellular service, but I am finding very few places now days that isn't covered. BTW it is a free app.:B

Watch a local TV station. They will show you the location of the storm and the projected path. You will have plenty of warning in time to move your rig to safety. I have lived in tornado alley for 76 years and have never seen a tornado. I would never go to California because of the earthquakes. :)

Thats about all we do is keep our NOAH WX ALERT radio fired up and watch alot of 24/7 OTA LOCAL AREA Natl Broadcast HDTV live radar using the BATWING Antenna when parked somewhere.

It seems that any trailer RV or otherwise is a big magnet for Tornadoes...

In our OFF-ROAD POPUP we will vacate the premises when the wind gets up to around 45-50MPH in the local area. The bath house is always the best spot to head for. We was standing in both MALE and FEMALE sides one night waiting for the storms to pass...

Got to maintain awareness of the storms..

Roy Ken

Most campgrounds in tornado prone areas will have some sort of shelter. Usually the restroom building, ask at the desk. It will help keep you safe but not your RV.

Definitely pay attention to the weather forecasts/radio.

Get behind weather systems that could bring tornadoes.