Tornado Weather

for those that have never seen (1)

well count your blessings

I was living in Indiana on "black wednesday" and saw (3) at the same time
as they went by on each side of us several miles away
the mess they left behind was phenomenal

So who says you have to go now? Can you wait a few days or a week?

If you have a smartphone get an app like AccuWeather, The Weather Channel (both are free) or StormShield (cost a few dollars). All of these apps have the capability for you to input your location and send weather updated and warnings to you. We live in Oklahoma and find all of these better than a weather radio. We also use them when we travel. We have found weather radios to be less reliable due to tuning and reception.

As others have mentioned asked where the storm shelters are located in the campground. If you are on the road keep updating your location and if severe weather is approaching look for a substantial building and don't hesitate to ask if you can seek shelter there. Big box stores and others that have large open a spans are not the best shelters. Interior rooms, the smaller the better, are your best choices if there is not a designated shelter area.

I would recommend radar apps and apps like Dark Sky. If the weather is dicey and you have to crash for the night, if you can, find higher ground if possible. Tornadoes are scary, but flooding (and flash flooding) will kill you just as dead, and flood waters can easily entrap neighborhoods and areas.

IMO stay put and don't start out until this severe storm break has worn itself out and moved on
Then get on the road and get started thru the area before the next front
Stay ahead of the next storm front
The best way to avoid trouble, is to be out in front , or following behind, not driving thru it, not stopped and letting it catch you
A day late or two days early is a lot better than being in the storm

If you stay behind the storm watch out for flood waters ahead at rivers and low highway points
Staying ahead means staying on the move, with only short rest breaks, no stopping for visits or camping

Good advise click here.

If in a campground, the bath house is usually the safest place. You don't want to stay inside your camper, as it can get tossed around like a tinker toy and destroyed.

If you know positively a tornado is heading right at you, and no where to go, look for the lowest spot and get in it and forget your dignity. Get your face in the mud and lay flat.

You never stay inside a vehicle. Always get out, look for a ditch a culvert, any place near water (lake, pond, river and find the low spot.

Keep insurance up on your vehicle and camper, and if indeed a tornado is heading right at you ... the camper can always be replaced, but you or your loved ones cannot! Get out, and literally .... hit the dirt!

Overpasses are not safe either. The tremendous force of a tornado going over or through an overpass, and you're under it, could suck you right out. It's like the hose of a vacuum sweeper, you run the risk of being sucked out! Very dangerous.

But the odds of YOU running into a tornado are very slim. Don't give it a second thought and enjoy your trip. You could stay home and slip and miss a step on your front porch, fall down, bust your head and be killed instantly. Does that mean you stop using the steps of your front porch. If you live in the "what if" world, you'll never enjoy life.

And remember, the natural elements of the weather are very much a part of the camping experience. Adverse weather creates new opportunities for creative camping techniques. It's not always a sunny day in the mid 80's you know. Embrace the magnificent forces of nature. It helps keep a perspective of the real values of life.

I live in tornado alley and agree that it's important to note that they are very rare and often very isolated. More often than not, you might end up with a tornado warning with no tornado on the ground. It's still scary, and you need to take cover in that situation, but you don't need to panic.

Make sure your weather app is set to follow you and provide alerts for tornadoes. Be sure to pay attention to the county you are in. The National Weather Service will put out a tornado watch when the conditions are ripe, but this doesn't necessarily mean there's a major chance of having tornadoes. Check the weather for the counties you might be in.

As others have said, take cover in a sturdy structure if your weather alert goes off or you see a tornado warning for your location. You may also hear sirens if you are in a town that has them. In this region, most RV parks have some type of shelter, and many towns have public shelters.

We were in East Texas and western Oklahome a few weeks ago. I was worried about it too. Watching the news one night the weatherman which looked to be about my age (50's) said he had lived there his entire life and never seen one, that made me feel better. The same day we drove left Texas 2 tornados hit behind us and alerts were on in Ok when we got there and watched clouds drop down and start circling, it was something to see. After that just make sure you know where shelter is and enjoy your trip.

BB_TX wrote:
Living in the southern end of tornado alley all my 70 years I can tell you be aware but not worried. In that time I have seen 3 and the last one of any significance at all to hit our town was in 1948. Although tornados are extremely destructive, they actually do damage in relatively small areas. Typically they are in the range of 1/4 mile wide and stay on the ground for only a few miles. That amounts to a very tiny fraction of the land area. Obviously some are much larger. Of course none of that matters if you happen to be caught in the path of one.

Check local forecast daily. If storms are forecast, check several times daily. Have a good radar on your smart phone. Don't drive into a storm in your path. Stop and let it pass. When you stop for the night, ask if the RV park has a storm shelter or designated safe area. If not ask where the nearest safe area may be. If there are no better options nearby and a severe storm is approaching then go to a nearby large Walmart, Home Depot, lowes, or similar store. They typically have areas designated for their employees and customers to go in that event. Don't stay in the RV or car or truck if in the path of a tornado.

More good advice.

2gypsies wrote:
Get a weather radio and monitor it constantly. Look at a map and know what county you're in so when they name counties you can be more alert.

If you're in a county they mention, find a RV park fast. When you check in asked for the nearest storm shelter. Many times, the bath house is the best because it's usually made out of concrete and doesn't have many windows. We've spent many hours in the Arkansas bath houses in state parks as we traveled the state. Men and women in the same place along with dogs, chairs, water, snacks and we always had a party atmosphere - never a tornado.

If you can't find a RV park near, try a rest area and go into their bath house. Above all, don't stay in your RV. That's the most unsafe place.

Beyond that...just relax and don't let the thought ruin your trip. The liklihood of one hitting near you is great but be prepared.

This is good advice. Except maybe for the last sentence. I'm on the northern edge of tornado alley and I have never actually seen one. I've seen the damage they do but, you are a lot more likely to get killed by lightning then you are by a tornado.