Traveling in Tornado prone areas
Will be traveling to SD the last of May. We are traveling in a Ram 3500 Dually with a 5th wheel. My husband who is a firefighter/EMT will have a weather radio. He has been West several times with Wild...
Forum Discussion
When I am in tornado country, I am not concerned with what the odds are, just does one of those storms have my name on it. I grew up in southern Oklahoma, in the center of tornado alley, and I freely admit those storms scare me. If you or a loved one are one of the mentioned 70 people killed each year, tornados are very important.
Information is the key, IMHO. Tornados move from the SW to the NE in Tornado Alley, so keep a watch on large towering clouds building to the SW of you. As mentioned, check the long term weather forecasts and avoid those areas with a high chance for severe storms, if possible. Each summer we tend to spend time in Colorado, so when we get to Tallahassee, we will get as many weather forecasts as possible. My wife and I are both aircraft pilots so we will discuss the forecasts and decide the general route between Florida and Colorado. Last summer, the middle of the country didn't look promising so we stayed south, along the Gulf coast as long as possible.
Sometimes we guess wrong and get caught in a tornado outbreak in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas or eastern Colorado. The 24 hour forecasts are much more accurate than the long term ones, so then a traveler has to decide whether to stay parked in a campground or Ty to get out of the area before the storm develops if possible.
I have both a weather radio and an app for my iPhone, iMap Radio. App cost me about $10 but well worth it. It uses the built in phone locator to automatically give you verbal alerts for the area your are in. Prior to getting the app, one time we were in La Junta Colorado when in the middle of the night the weather radio went of with tornado information, given by counties. We had no idea of what county we were in or the surrounding counties. After that we checked every night on our road atlas for our county location.
While it may be more dangerous to drive a vehicle, if something kills or maims you or a family member, it doesn't really matter, IMHO.
Information is the key, IMHO. Tornados move from the SW to the NE in Tornado Alley, so keep a watch on large towering clouds building to the SW of you. As mentioned, check the long term weather forecasts and avoid those areas with a high chance for severe storms, if possible. Each summer we tend to spend time in Colorado, so when we get to Tallahassee, we will get as many weather forecasts as possible. My wife and I are both aircraft pilots so we will discuss the forecasts and decide the general route between Florida and Colorado. Last summer, the middle of the country didn't look promising so we stayed south, along the Gulf coast as long as possible.
Sometimes we guess wrong and get caught in a tornado outbreak in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas or eastern Colorado. The 24 hour forecasts are much more accurate than the long term ones, so then a traveler has to decide whether to stay parked in a campground or Ty to get out of the area before the storm develops if possible.
I have both a weather radio and an app for my iPhone, iMap Radio. App cost me about $10 but well worth it. It uses the built in phone locator to automatically give you verbal alerts for the area your are in. Prior to getting the app, one time we were in La Junta Colorado when in the middle of the night the weather radio went of with tornado information, given by counties. We had no idea of what county we were in or the surrounding counties. After that we checked every night on our road atlas for our county location.
While it may be more dangerous to drive a vehicle, if something kills or maims you or a family member, it doesn't really matter, IMHO.
