Traveling in Tornado prone areas

[Cosmotaf]

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 Wildfire crews. So if there is a Wildfire he will know what to do. However living on the East coast we have only camped as far west as Tennessee. We are a little nervous about driving through areas that are tornado and severe storm prone this time of year. Do rest areas have appropriate shelter? Any safety tips/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Nervous Wife.

[Bumpyroad]

I finally found out how to cut out a section, it is right click on this edition so that solves one of my problems.
and those "experts" on outsmarting a tornado better be smarter than those three tornado chasers who tragically lost their lives.
bumpy

[Bumpyroad]

joe b. wrote:
bumpy, that is good to know. I am still using a 2008 version of S&T so may just stick with it for awhile longer. Planning is about all I use it for anyways, so it still works fine for that.

I was using an older version that you and I had issues with Win 8, so got 2013. it seems to have "enhancements" for tablets, pdas etc.
one thing it lost was the ability to "cut out" rectangles to full screen them. have to just magnify entire screen and hope to get what you want.
and the trip routing function really sucks compared to the Trailer Life version.
bumpy

[sowego]

I fully agree about weather alerts for counties not cities. Using an AP on a computer is ok but if an alert goes off suddenly you need it may be handy to have a hard copy map with county names.

After the tornado alert we experienced in Kansas one year we found it's a good idea to get out a local map to find out exactly where you are when parked. It is especially useful to have the non-driver keep a map in their lap to track the storm. It is an interesting way to also be aware of your surroundings.

Just be proactive, have your back-up plan and enjoy your trip.

[joe_b_]

bumpy, that is good to know. I am still using a 2008 version of S&T so may just stick with it for awhile longer. Planning is about all I use it for anyways, so it still works fine for that.

[SolidAxleDurang]

pnichols wrote:
I was raised to be an expert about: Tornadoes and basements, tornadoes and roadside ditches, tornadoes and school kids covering the back of their necks while hovering under their desks, tornadoes and opening all of one's house windows ahead of time, tornadoes and freeway underpasses, tornadoes and how slowly they travel relative to how fast RVs can travel, AND .... driving perpendicular to the direction of travel of tornadoes to easily get away from them.

Well there ya have it... The expert has spoken LOL

[Bumpyroad]

Jim Shoe wrote:
Approaching weather is often announced on the radio, but by county. MS Streets & Trips shows county names and boundaries.

can you do a search by county name? or is it just guess and hope?
incidentally I bought S&T 2013 and it has lost lots of its value to me.
bumpy

[Jim_Shoe]

Approaching weather is often announced on the radio, but by county. MS Streets & Trips shows county names and boundaries.

[sowego]

Keeping a weather radio on 24/7 and watching the weather radar/warning often if storms are predicted is about the best you can do. You can try changing your route but most of the time the areas with chances of bad storms is so large it will be hard to avoid. It will just have to be a judgment call day by day.

Some rest areas seem to have a sturdy shelter and some campgrounds do too but you can never know for sure. Do some research on the Weather Channel and any other source to know what to look for and what to do in case of an approaching storm.

Try not to get too worried, enough to cancel your trip.

We have attended the weather spotter training offered by NOAA, very interesting and informative. Learn what you should and should not do.

[joe_b_]

The Weather Channel has developed a new forecasting tool called Tor-Con and it is explained by the head weather man, Dr. Greg Forbes.
http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index Actually listed as Tor:Con but I get a smiley face with that. LOL

Scroll down the page and it will give a list of the percentage chances of a tornado within a 50 mile radius of that location. As someone that grew up in the middle of Tornado Alley in southern Oklahoma, this is valuable information to have on hand. With the 24 hr forecast, it gives most RVers time to be somewhere else, which is what I would do. If you live there, make sure your storm cellar is stocked and ready for you to go under ground.

Tornados are possible in many places in the US, we even have them here in coastal Florida from time to time. On land they are called tornados, over the water, they are water spouts. Most can barly make an F-1 rating and some can't make that. But get into Tornado Alley and you will find many more tornados and ones with much higher force, including the F-4 and F-5 monster storms.

Map of Tornado Alley - other variations of it are out there as well but this is the one I have seen the longest.
http://www.severe-weather-fan.com/location-of-tornado-alley.html

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

nitrohorse wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
This has been talked about many time on here.

Here are the odds:

Auto deaths in the US every year= Over 300,000. :E

Tornado deaths in the US every year= Less than 70.

You are traveling on the road with an RV. Your chances of being killed while on the highway in your RV are way, way, way, way, way, way, higher than even seeing a tornado let alone being killed by one.

The storm chasers try their best to run into tornados and even they, with all the high tech equipment they have; have a REALLY hard time doing that.

Do the best you can; try to be careful and move on with life. Life is a fatal disease anyway. :E

I think your facts are a bit skewered. You are way low. And if you factor in
property damage, tornado are one of the most devastating natural phenomena.

2011 Tornado Fatalities

You make my point very well when I say a lot of people don't understand statistics and "averages."

You cherry picked 1 year with a bad death total from tornados. I can do the same thing. What about 1986? There were only 15 people that died in the whole US that year from tornados. That must mean my stats are high then right? :R It's like saying traveling by airplanes are dangerous because in 2001 over 4000 people died in airplane crashes. The fact is, airplane travel is one of the most safest modes of travel.

BTW it's not my facts. The facts come from NOAA. They are the people that keep tract of weather facts, not me.

People are all upset about the OK tornado. It's a treble tragedy when people die in any way except old age.

But the fact of the matter is more people die on the roads in the US each and every day than in the one day tornado tragedy that happened in Ok this week.

IOW's almost a THOUSAND people are going to die on the roads of the US this week and every week thereafter in the US.

I will say it one more time. If you are an RV'er, death by tornado is almost the last thing you have to worry about. If you check my facts you will find out that statement is very true.

[pnichols]

SolidAxleDurango wrote:
It is CLEAR to me that you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about.

Baloney. I was raised in the Midwest and I know EXACTLY what tornadoes are about. I've seen plenty of the ominous looking pre-tornado grey-green clouds with their downward facing cupped formations - scary stuff.

I was raised to be an expert about: Tornadoes and basements, tornadoes and roadside ditches, tornadoes and school kids covering the back of their necks while hovering under their desks, tornadoes and opening all of one's house windows ahead of time, tornadoes and freeway underpasses, tornadoes and how slowly they travel relative to how fast RVs can travel, AND .... driving perpendicular to the direction of travel of tornadoes to easily get away from them.

After all of this, I want no part of tornadoes ... that's one of the main reasons we live out West away from them ... but we DO HAVE earthquakes. :E

[SolidAxleDurang]

K3WE wrote:

SolidAxleDurango wrote:

pnichols wrote:
At least with tornadoes - they come along with massive weather fronts that are easy to learn about over radio/TV, easy to see visually, and easy to drive perpendicular to and get away from in an RV.

It is CLEAR to me that you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about.

Axle man: Absolute statements are almost always wrong- and be careful with the all caps.

P-nick lives in Oklahoma- you think he might know a little?

Tornadoes in OK TEND to be big and visible. Evidence is that traffic helicopter fiming this big one. His statement has a lot of truth- I would agree that he should have used the word "usually".

And they do form suddenly, can be hidden by rain, can occur at night, and to BREAK CAMP and drive away probably is a bad idea...but if you are on the interstate, listening to the radio, there is a valid argument to drive away- preferably perpendicular to the path.

"P-nick" location indicates Santa Cruz. I am unfamiliar with Santa Cruz, OK. I am however, familiar with Santa Cruz, CA.

I have no idea what he ~does~ know... But by his statements, I do know what he does not know.

[K3WE]

SolidAxleDurango wrote:

pnichols wrote:
At least with tornadoes - they come along with massive weather fronts that are easy to learn about over radio/TV, easy to see visually, and easy to drive perpendicular to and get away from in an RV.

It is CLEAR to me that you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about.

Axle man: Absolute statements are almost always wrong- and be careful with the all caps.

P-nick lives in Oklahoma- you think he might know a little?

Tornadoes in OK TEND to be big and visible. Evidence is that traffic helicopter fiming this big one. His statement has a lot of truth- I would agree that he should have used the word "usually".

And they do form suddenly, can be hidden by rain, can occur at night, and to BREAK CAMP and drive away probably is a bad idea...but if you are on the interstate, listening to the radio, there is a valid argument to drive away- preferably perpendicular to the path.

[SolidAxleDurang]

pnichols wrote:
At least with tornadoes - they come along with massive weather fronts that are easy to learn about over radio/TV, easy to see visually, and easy to drive perpendicular to and get away from in an RV.

It is CLEAR to me that you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are talking about.