***DISCLAIMER*** I know an RV is not where you want to be during a storm. Find a secure location, like your home or another building. Keep good insurance on the RV.Question:I'm just curious, not having an RV yet (but hopefully soon!). Suppose I'm boondocking somewhere fairly flat in a TT or FW, not in a campground, and no buildings around. The weather forecast is for 50-60mph wind gusts tomorrow morning, for at least 300 miles around you. What do you do? - Hunker down and say your prayers - Hook up now, and move the RV to _______ - Jump in your TV, and wave to the RV as you leave - Stay in the RV overnight, but find the best protected spot for yourself outside the RV tomorrow morning (before the wind starts) - Something elseThanks!

We have been in OKC during tornado season. We stay at Tinker AFB which has a tornado shelter. Thankfully, we've never had to grab our cats & head for the shelter. But, when traveling in areas like this - or when we have a storm forecast, we do some planning. We have had nights when we had to bring in the slides due to high winds.And when out on the road we have pulled over and used the overpass for protection. It takes some planning. If you're in a cg, ask if they have a shelter or if the bldg is open at night for a haven from the storm.

We would get in our truck and find better storm protection. The RV (TT) is insured and would be on it's own!

We rode out 60 mph plus winds in our coach last fall while at a campground near Niagara Falls last fall. The neighbor's anemometer recorded 64 mph gusts. We were oriented with the rear of the coach pretty much facing into the wind, and while we did rock and roll a bit, we never felt like we were at any risk of blowing over. In your scenario, I think I would do the same thing, try to orient the rig so the wind is at the rear and ride it out. Keep in mind your RV is regularly exposed to 60 mph plus "winds" while driving down the road at Interstate speeds anyway. The only reason for facing the rear into the wind instead of the front, is to minimize any potential damage from flying debris.

I get off the road and parked, keeping trailer hooked up and with slightly aerodynamically superior nose of the tug pointed into the wind. Just like a boat. Of course, winds in my camping country are for the most part predictably directional, not all swirly like a tornado.For tornado survival I guess I'd unhook and take my chances that my little fiberglass trailer would just do a tumbleweed act with me in it, eventually to emerge Shaken but Unhurt- just like happened to this guy in a 13 foot Scamp last year! :E News story wrote:HICKMAN, Neb. — Jim Stoddard’s world started spinning. Then it twisted, tumbled and turned upside down.A tornado skipping across eastern Nebraska on Thursday night shook Stoddard around the inside of his little trailer. The twister tossed the vehicle across a campground like a pinball as trees crashed down around him.“It was wild!’’ Stoddard said Friday. “I’m a happy man. I’m not a happy camper, but I’m a happy man. I’m alive.’’Stoddard’s camper was heavily damaged by the tornado that struck Wagon Trail Lake State Recreation Area near Hickman. It was the first of a one-two punch of tornadoes that hit eastern Nebraska in a 24-hour period Thursday and Friday.The Thursday tornado bounced across the countryside near Hickman, Bennet and Palmyra for nearly an hour, starting about 10 p.m. It was rated an EF2, with winds of 111 to 135 mph. It destroyed two large recreational vehicles at Wagon Train Lake,......snip......The lightweight trailer started spinning, then flipped and rolled up an embankment. “Then it nose-dived,’’ Stoddard said. The trailer hitch caught in the ground, sending the camper end over end.“We came down the hill, rolling one way or another,’’ Stoddard said. “I lost track.’’The trailer traveled about 150 feet in a U-shape path before coming to rest in the ditch — the same one that Stoddard had planned to flee to moments earlier.

50-70 mph gusts are common here in my neck of the woods. I have my TT pointed parallel in the prevailing wind direction, and call it done. I should have the front of the TT facing the winds, but I have it the opposite due to the fact that my rig is in what is effectively a back-in site. Makes for a nice view out the big back window when the buzz-saw storms hit and start flipping tents and pavilions.

RV's in a storm | Good Sam Community

Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Feb 20, 2014
We rode out 60 mph plus winds in our coach last fall while at a campground near Niagara Falls last fall. The neighbor's anemometer recorded 64 mph gusts. We were oriented with the rear of the coach pretty much facing into the wind, and while we did rock and roll a bit, we never felt like we were at any risk of blowing over. In your scenario, I think I would do the same thing, try to orient the rig so the wind is at the rear and ride it out. Keep in mind your RV is regularly exposed to 60 mph plus "winds" while driving down the road at Interstate speeds anyway. The only reason for facing the rear into the wind instead of the front, is to minimize any potential damage from flying debris.
LynnandCarol
Explorer
Feb 20, 2014
We would get in our truck and find better storm protection. The RV (TT) is insured and would be on it's own!
jkmcmom
Explorer
Feb 20, 2014
We have been in OKC during tornado season. We stay at Tinker AFB which has a tornado shelter. Thankfully, we've never had to grab our cats & head for the shelter. But, when traveling in areas like this - or when we have a storm forecast, we do some planning. We have had nights when we had to bring in the slides due to high winds.

And when out on the road we have pulled over and used the overpass for protection.

It takes some planning. If you're in a cg, ask if they have a shelter or if the bldg is open at night for a haven from the storm.

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