Lesson learned - paying attention to the local weather
NWescapee said
09:11 AM Apr 26, 2014
Last fall we were caught totally off guard because we hadn't paid enough attention to the local weather reports and were caught by surprise with how horrible the flooding Colorado really was. We were told to evacuate the campground, spent a night in the Target parking lot, spend Friday morning coming up with plan A, B and C and finally escaping the flood area using none of those routes due to additional road closures. http://rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t54956395/evacuatated-and-now-we-wait/
Since then we've learned to pay a lot more attention to the local weather. Last night we sat in our 5th wheel listening to the rain pound on the roof for a short time and then turn to a steady rain for quite a while and felt the strong winds hitting the trailer and we were so happy to be here. Why? Because we were stationary, not driving in the wet and very, very windy conditions.
Our original plan was to drive yesterday afternoon once my work for the week was finished, but after watching the weather reports and seeing the increasing chance of wind and seemed like increasing intensity of the winds forecast, we left at 4 PM on Thursday and drove west for 4 hours, getting on the other side of the Sierras. So yeah, it was dark when we arrived at our RV park, but it was an easy drive with just a few windy places, so much more pleasant than the drive would have been 24 hours later. And yes, I ended up working until 10 PM and then was back at it very, very early Friday AM, but Friday night we were totally relaxed even with the winds and rain.
So yes, we can be taught and learn something even when we have to learn the hard way
kb0zke said
09:29 AM Apr 26, 2014
We're almost weather junkies. We have the weather up on the computers all the time, and check it several times each day when it is nice, and several times each hour when it isn't. Right now there is rain south and west of us, but nothing severe in the forecast for today. Tomorrow is another story. We usually stay in town after church for lunch and Wal-Mart, but tomorrow we may make it a very quick lunch and get back home, just in case.
WestWardHo said
12:40 PM Apr 26, 2014
We're running ahead of the awful storm in Central US. It'll be just north of us and we are w atching weather closely!
Two drivers help when you want to outrun a storm!
Sherry
Lucky Mike said
01:38 PM Apr 26, 2014
Im going to have to find it but I had a route planner that also included updated local weather...when you signed in at the end of the day it would update the weather map and give you the local weather.
HighwayRanger said
09:04 PM Apr 26, 2014
What's the best weather radio to have as fulltimers?
Roy
Talensnana said
09:49 PM Apr 26, 2014
Asked my DH and he said that he really likes the one in the CB radio. The cb does not have to be on, but have power to it to receive the alerts. Because it is tied into the CB, it has a good antenna. He said it is a Cobra.
-- Edited by Talensnana on Saturday 26th of April 2014 09:51:25 PM
Billy Bob said
07:49 AM Apr 27, 2014
Yes that is good advice we should always check the weather daily when traveling
It is very easy to see on the map where the nasty weather is located (or expected) in relation to your location. Anything in blue is important as that shows where high winds are expected. And anything yellow or red, either outlined or filled in, needs your undivided attention as these indicate severe weather.
I also monitor TWC weather channel (TorCon values) and local news stations. Having spent last spring and summer in Kansas I discovered it's bad to rely 100% on the television for data. When the storm arrives the satellite signal has a tendency to be blocked out by intense storm clouds and leaves you with no data. I also carry a weather radio with S.A.M.E. technology that I can use to receive alerts as well as listen to the NWS reports. I recommend everyone carry one of these radio's and keep it programmed with the code for your location. The alert is valuable at night when you might be sleeping and do not know of approaching weather.
While I don't have one myself folks in the shelter with us that had cell phones with internet access proved to be valuable devices. When it's dark and stormy and the tornado siren is going off and you have relocated from your RV to shelter it is nice to be able to "see" what's happening with the storm track. More expensive than the weather radio, but if you have one you will be very popular in the shelter
NorCal Dan wrote:While I don't have one myself folks in the shelter with us that had cell phones with internet access proved to be valuable devices. When it's dark and stormy and the tornado siren is going off and you have relocated from your RV to shelter it is nice to be able to "see" what's happening with the storm track. More expensive than the weather radio, but if you have one you will be very popular in the shelter
With regards to this, the availability of information on a cell phone via internet will depend on where one's shelter is and how it is constructed. The one in the mobile home park where we currently are will not allow cell signals to "penetrate" to the phones. The one time that we "headed for the fraidy-hole," I stood outside under a carport roof and watched on my phone. Inside the shelter, I could get nothing.
Terry
suse1023 said
06:49 PM Apr 27, 2014
Norcal, I like your weather site, thanks for posting it. may I ask how often you update it?
Technomadia said
07:56 PM Apr 27, 2014
Staying on top of the weather is so important!
We do carry a handheld battery operated (rechargeable) weather radio on board. We also keep several apps on our devices that give us push notifications and additional information. My two favorites are the Red Cross Tornado app, and Weather Radio. We don't rely on just one source for information - as any of them can be interrupted or be out of range. Last year while riding out an intense storm with tornado warnings (in a basement shelter), the Red Cross app wasn't sending updates, but the Weather Radio app was.
Also, be aware of how your current location is detected and adjusted as you move about.
mpierce said
06:16 AM Apr 28, 2014
Talensnana wrote:
Asked my DH and he said that he really likes the one in the CB radio. The cb does not have to be on, but have power to it to receive the alerts. Because it is tied into the CB, it has a good antenna. He said it is a Cobra.
-- Edited by Talensnana on Saturday 26th of April 2014 09:51:25 PM
Used these for years on semis. Great for storm alerts in your area. But, I think you need to be checking on weather earlier. This alert is kind of a "head for the storm shelter" NOW alert.
-- Edited by mpierce on Monday 28th of April 2014 08:38:48 AM
NWescapee said
08:46 AM Apr 28, 2014
Another website that is useful is Weather Underground's Road trip planner, you can put in the starting location, time you are leaving and destination. The website then gives you the forecasted weather and any advisories along the way.
Unfortunately their cell phone app doesn't have this, you have to access it via their website.
This is a video posted to youtube about last nights tornado in Arkansas. It is 2 and a half minuetes long and an aerial view. At about a min. you see it hover over people trying to 'rescue' someone out of a demolished 5th wheel. Please remember to find somewhere other than your RV to take cover in, if severe weather is headed towards you. Your life is worth more than the cost of a hotel room with a storm shelter. We would not want to miss you or your posts here .
Last fall we were caught totally off guard because we hadn't paid enough attention to the local weather reports and were caught by surprise with how horrible the flooding Colorado really was. We were told to evacuate the campground, spent a night in the Target parking lot, spend Friday morning coming up with plan A, B and C and finally escaping the flood area using none of those routes due to additional road closures. http://rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t54956395/evacuatated-and-now-we-wait/
Since then we've learned to pay a lot more attention to the local weather. Last night we sat in our 5th wheel listening to the rain pound on the roof for a short time and then turn to a steady rain for quite a while and felt the strong winds hitting the trailer and we were so happy to be here.
Why? Because we were stationary, not driving in the wet and very, very windy conditions.
Our original plan was to drive yesterday afternoon once my work for the week was finished, but after watching the weather reports and seeing the increasing chance of wind and seemed like increasing intensity of the winds forecast, we left at 4 PM on Thursday and drove west for 4 hours, getting on the other side of the Sierras. So yeah, it was dark when we arrived at our RV park, but it was an easy drive with just a few windy places, so much more pleasant than the drive would have been 24 hours later. And yes, I ended up working until 10 PM and then was back at it very, very early Friday AM, but Friday night we were totally relaxed even with the winds and rain.
So yes, we can be taught and learn something even when we have to learn the hard way
Two drivers help when you want to outrun a storm!
Sherry
Roy
Asked my DH and he said that he really likes the one in the CB radio. The cb does not have to be on, but have power to it to receive the alerts. Because it is tied into the CB, it has a good antenna. He said it is a Cobra.
-- Edited by Talensnana on Saturday 26th of April 2014 09:51:25 PM
I run my own personal weather station and when traveling I like this page on my site: http://travelingrvwx.com/wxadvisory.php
It is very easy to see on the map where the nasty weather is located (or expected) in relation to your location. Anything in blue is important as that shows where high winds are expected. And anything yellow or red, either outlined or filled in, needs your undivided attention as these indicate severe weather.
I also monitor TWC weather channel (TorCon values) and local news stations. Having spent last spring and summer in Kansas I discovered it's bad to rely 100% on the television for data. When the storm arrives the satellite signal has a tendency to be blocked out by intense storm clouds and leaves you with no data. I also carry a weather radio with S.A.M.E. technology that I can use to receive alerts as well as listen to the NWS reports. I recommend everyone carry one of these radio's and keep it programmed with the code for your location. The alert is valuable at night when you might be sleeping and do not know of approaching weather.
While I don't have one myself folks in the shelter with us that had cell phones with internet access proved to be valuable devices. When it's dark and stormy and the tornado siren is going off and you have relocated from your RV to shelter it is nice to be able to "see" what's happening with the storm track. More expensive than the weather radio, but if you have one you will be very popular in the shelter
One of the better web sites I have found for "watching" the storms is: http://www.chasertv.com/
With regards to this, the availability of information on a cell phone via internet will depend on where one's shelter is and how it is constructed. The one in the mobile home park where we currently are will not allow cell signals to "penetrate" to the phones. The one time that we "headed for the fraidy-hole," I stood outside under a carport roof and watched on my phone. Inside the shelter, I could get nothing.
Terry
We do carry a handheld battery operated (rechargeable) weather radio on board. We also keep several apps on our devices that give us push notifications and additional information. My two favorites are the Red Cross Tornado app, and Weather Radio. We don't rely on just one source for information - as any of them can be interrupted or be out of range. Last year while riding out an intense storm with tornado warnings (in a basement shelter), the Red Cross app wasn't sending updates, but the Weather Radio app was.
Also, be aware of how your current location is detected and adjusted as you move about.
Used these for years on semis. Great for storm alerts in your area. But, I think you need to be checking on weather earlier. This alert is kind of a "head for the storm shelter" NOW alert.
-- Edited by mpierce on Monday 28th of April 2014 08:38:48 AM
Unfortunately their cell phone app doesn't have this, you have to access it via their website.
www.wunderground.com/roadtrip/
This is a video posted to youtube about last nights tornado in Arkansas. It is 2 and a half minuetes long and an aerial view. At about a min. you see it hover over people trying to 'rescue' someone out of a demolished 5th wheel. Please remember to find somewhere other than your RV to take cover in, if severe weather is headed towards you. Your life is worth more than the cost of a hotel room with a storm shelter. We would not want to miss you or your posts here
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7s2lzDtjew#t=104
Wendy