Bad Weather

[Gizmo100]

Never gave much thought to this until the other day when the black clouds started blowing in.

What are some generally guidelines on dealing with high winds.

My thoughts are to connect the truck with the WD hitch. This will shift weight to both the truck and the trailer axles. However if things go bad you lose everything.

I will be the first to admit.....I'm just guessing....Any thoughts?

 

[SeilerBird]

My response to winds is to get the RV the hell off the road. I won't drive an RV in wind. Too scary. 

 

[Gizmo100]

100% Agreed ...However I was thinking more of the trailer being setup at a CG. When the weather turn bad what's the best approach.

 

[Kevin Means]

If your RV has slides with awning toppers, it's sometimes wise to bring the slides in to protect the toppers. We've only felt the need to do it once in 24 years of RVing, but man was it blowing. A few years ago, some Forum friends lost their full-wall slide topper during a strong winter storm. It's not real common, but it happens.

Make sure your lawn chairs are put away, the awning is retracted... things like that. When practical, I also prefer to face the RV into the wind when they get real strong. Strong gusty crosswinds can buffet even heavy RVs around.

Kev

 

[RVMommaTo6]

This isn't wind related, but it reminds me of when we woke up after a storm to find the creek we were next to had flooded and was roaring. Our chairs were all swept away in the river!

 

[Isaac-1]

I was at an FMCA regional rally last year where a storm blew through, I am not sure how strong the wind was, but it was enough to send the metal 55 gallon drum trash cans tumbling across the field.  The coach next to me tried to bring their slides in, but unfortunately the wind caused the slide topper to get caught in the slide mechanism leaving the slide stuck half way in.  I guess the moral of this story is bring the slides in early, don't wait for things to start blowing around before you close things up.

 

[camperAL]

If your RV has slides with awning toppers, it's sometimes wise to bring the slides in to protect the toppers.

Make sure your lawn chairs are put away, the awning is retracted... things like that. When practical, I also prefer to face the RV into the wind when they get real strong. Strong gusty crosswinds can buffet even heavy RVs around.

Kev   

Hi Gizmo100 and all,

Even if the awning is stored, traveling in high winds can (and has) resulted in RV'ers losing their awnings if they are not locked into place. Usually the lock on the awning is worn some and won't hold the wind getting into it at the right angle. Having a lock on the awning helps prevent this and they sell covers to put over the awning until you want to put it out.

As Seilerbird said best to stay off the roads when there are high winds. I'll have to remember the retract your slide in when camped. Most campground have shelter somewhere (often bathrooms or showers) that you need to look before problems.

Wondering, if you put down your stabilizer jacks if that will help some in high winds? Best!

 

[rbrdriver]

This isn't wind related, but it reminds me of when we woke up after a storm to find the creek we were next to had flooded and was roaring. Our chairs were all swept away in the river!

  Just be glad YOU weren't swept away in the flood I reckon..... ???

 

[SpencerPJ]

My thoughts are to connect the truck with the WD hitch. This will shift weight to both the truck and the trailer axles. However if things go bad you lose everything.

I don't think I would hook up everything, you're right, I feel the truck would have better chance without the trailer attached, and sure would be nice to drive away.  With that said, remember bath houses are usually the most solid structure in many campgrounds.  I certainly have been in some whopper of storms, once the entrance of the campground was so flooded that we could not leave the following day.

 

[UTTransplant]

We went through 60+ mph winds at a campground once. We were watching the weather and knew it was coming but not how bad it would end up! Brought in the slide, stored all gear safely. We talked about going to the nice concrete bathroom a hundred feet awa, but told ourselves it wouldn?t get that bad. Duh! By the time we realized how stupid we were, we could not have walked to the bathroom; the winds were too strong. We put the cats in crates and just stayed put for the very very very long 15 minutes. I really thought we were going to blow over.

Lesson learned: get to solid shelter early and stay there.

 

[Oldgator73]

If gale force or hurricane force winds are forecast or the conditions are ripe for a tornado I would say batten down the hatches, lock up RV and go somewhere safe. Be sure to take your pets. Some of us like to camp under the trees. Nice when the weather is calm but under windy conditions those limbs can do a lot of damage to not only your RV but you also. If you are camped in a flood zone and flash flood warnings come across the radio or TV, you better hook up and get to higher ground. It ain?t rocket science. Use your uncommon sense. I say uncommon sense because if it was common sense everybody would have it.

 

[Gizmo100]

Thank You for all the input.

Our plan if weather turns bad

Awning gets pulled in. We plan on pulling it in at night and if we leave the camper. It's electric so it wont be a big deal.
All outside stuff gets stowed in the camper when not in use.
No slides - So No problem.
Leave stabilizers down and truck unhooked. Try to avoid parking under trees if weather looks questionable.
Locate possible shelters before they are needed. And get to them ASAP
If no shelter wait out the storm in the truck.

If we are on the road.
Get off the road and try and point the TT into the wind.

And of course be aware of Flash flood watches and warnings

 

[Hanr3]

We had a tornado roll through my neighborhood in 2013. My neighbors 33' 5th wheel was parked behind his house. It rolled three times and came to rest on its side. The tornado removed houses from their foundations two doors down the street. Same tornado that rolled through Washington, IL. and wiped out 500 homes.

Point is, high winds WILL take everything. Get to the shelter. Insurance will replace the RV, but it won't replace your life.

 

[timjet]

Bad weather can take several forms.
We were in a campground in Albuquerque when winds picked up at 3am sufficient to wake us both. We were there for just one night so we didn't have chairs and other stuff out. I did bring in the slides to protect the toppers.

In Colorado Springs this summer we were at a campground and experienced a hail storm. I immediately pulled in the slides and parked the car under a tree. The tree was small and I didn't think it would help much. After it was over, 15 minutes or so I ventured out to see the damage more worried about the car than the coach. The car was OK but the skylight above the shower got a quarter size hole. Both the car and the coach were covered in leaves and small branches.

As a habit I pull in the large awning before going to bed. It won't take much wind before it would be damaged. 

 

[Senator]

What do you consider too much wind?  In some places, 30 MPH wind is common.  Does a fiver, vs a trailer vs a Class A make a difference?

What is too much wind speed to pull an RV in?

 

[Rene T]

Does a fiver, vs a trailer vs a Class A make a difference?

What is too much wind speed to pull an RV in?

NO. An awning is a awning. It can be like a huge parachute.

Depends on the awning and the way it was manufactured and installed.

 

[UTTransplant]

Newer electric awnings are more sensitive to wind than the older manual awnings due to the way they are mounted. When you put the awning arms down to the ground on the old ones, you could get about 100.110 degrees between the awning and the bars. With the electric ones I have had I am luck to get 45 degrees. We put our awning up overnight and whenever we leave now.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    We were at the 2010 Quartzsite Rally when a microburst hit one night, we had pulled our slide in, but the RV next to us didn't.  It along with a few others lost their slide toppers.  That was the year that the many of the RV and Gemshow exhibitors lost their tents and coverings.

Ed

 

[Gizmo100]

Funny that I asked about bad weather.......Our poor little town is included in the Hurricane watch/warning area. We are 90 miles from the Gulf of Mexico...Could get quite interesting the next few days.

 

[SeilerBird]

Funny that I asked about bad weather.......Our poor little town is included in the Hurricane watch/warning area. We are 90 miles from the Gulf of Mexico...Could get quite interesting the next few days.

If you are 90 miles inland it should be no problem. Hurricanes die when they travel over land.