Howling wind

[down_home]

Near Kingman, Az the wind really is howling. I don't know how fast it is blowing but it one of the few times I've heard the wind actually howl.
the awnings over the windows and door had t be brought in. Opening the door is a challenge. The coach is really rocking.
I wouldn't want to be in a semi or rv, or car on I40 right now,

[JimK-NY]

If the winds get into the 50+ mph range you will need to be very careful where you park. Try to face into the prevailing wind. I had high winds in Hatteras and in the Mojave Preserve among other places. At Hatteras we were trapped for a couple of days. At Mojave the temps dropped into the 30s and the wind made it impossible to use the furnace. I also encountered really heavy winds at Furnace Creek, Death Valley. The winds hit a 5th wheeler, pushed it sideways about 4 feet and dropped it on the ground.

[rk911]

so sorry to hear about your sister-in-law. thoughts and prayers for you all.

[down_home]

West of Fort Worth on thee Interstate is a long curve in a stretch that must get a lot of high winds.
On two different trip we saw a semi or semis blown over on their sides.
We have not spent much time in the Mohave Desert, but this trip, with wife's little sister terminally ill, we have been here three long long months. The wind has been hard many if not most days. Does little good to wash your car. The coach rocks many many nights.

[colliehauler]

The closest I've been to a blow over was on I-80 in Wyoming. I was in the right lane and a gust of wind hit the rig and I went to the left lane and almost into the center divider. The truck and the trailer went as one unit and I was along for the ride.

It made me a firm believer in the Reese duel cam Equalizer hitch. I was in a F-250 with a 22' trailer.

[Veebyes]

Yep, heard of "get there-itis". Not worth it at all.

We lost a 5er to a blow over between Laramie & Rawlins 10 years ago. Elk Mtn Pass. Breezy day but not enough for highway warning signs to be lit. Got a few minor shakes west of Laramie. What got us was a huge & sustained gust broadside just on the west side of the top of the Elk Mtn pass. Gravel was airbourne & travelling horizontally. 60-70MPH wind I estimate. We have lived through many a hurricane at home in Bermuda so we know a little about wind. A few seconds earlier or later & we would still have that trailer.

These days we are extremely sensitive to wind & watch for any clues like flags, trees moving, grass blowing, ripples on roadside ponds, other high profile vehicles, anything that might give an indication of direction & speed of the wind.

Much better to stay put if there is a chance of encountering high winds than go through what we did which was trailer totalled, $10,000 damage to truck, paperwork gallore, loss of alot of personal stuff & a month in Cheyenne getting the truck fixed.

[down_home]

Some of you may have been at the hastings Kansas FMCA or ACA Coach rally a few years ago, I don't remember which it was. We came from Arizona through Texas, to Oklahoma then Kansas.
In Texas lots of wind from the west and the road was almost straight north and south. They drive on thee broad shoulders there in Texas and for good reason. about 30mph maybe was all we could do as it continually tried to push us off the road. Radio said something of 70-75 mph winds. We met semis who went to the shoulder as we did. If we had stayed n the road being so close e could have been frced into each other. In Oklahoma on the now Interstate turned east est. With those strong constant winds at our back, we averaged somewhere in the high 20mph range the most of the way to Hastings.. Hastings is where there are or were prarie dog towns in the medians and on the shoulders. One Intersection sticks out most, that was close to Big Box Stores.

[rk911]

LibertyMan wrote:
I was staying at the St. Mary KOA in East Glacier and thought our camper was going to blow over! Steady 35mph winds with gust in the 40's and 50's. Horrible, could not sleep at all due to the rocking and howling. Campground host acted like it happens all the time there. Someone mentioned slide toppers....my current trailer has them on all of the slides but we have not camped in any high wind situations since we purchased it. What are you folks doing with them during high winds other than pulling the slides in? Will they stand up to a good beating?

we had similar winds for 5-6 days in Amarillo 2-yrs ago. we pulled in the slide that was on the windward side during the day and both at night. the bedroom slide was also on the windward side so that was also in during the day but had to be out at night. some of the gusts were pretty violent.

[rk911]

doxiemom11 wrote:
Had friends that were so anxious a couple years ago to get south, that instead of staying put, took off down the road on a windy day. Nothing extreme, but 30 with higher gusts. Wind flipped their rig causing truck to also roll. Wife very seriously injured and a year later still in a wheel chair. It's just not worth it no matter why you think you need to go and no matter how great you think you are in handling the rig in wind. Better to just sit and stay safe !

pilots call that "gotta get there-itis' and it's killed a few of them. as you point out it just aint worth the risk.

[LibertyMan]

I was staying at the St. Mary KOA in East Glacier and thought our camper was going to blow over! Steady 35mph winds with gust in the 40's and 50's. Horrible, could not sleep at all due to the rocking and howling. Campground host acted like it happens all the time there. Someone mentioned slide toppers....my current trailer has them on all of the slides but we have not camped in any high wind situations since we purchased it. What are you folks doing with them during high winds other than pulling the slides in? Will they stand up to a good beating?

[doxiemom11]

Had friends that were so anxious a couple years ago to get south, that instead of staying put, took off down the road on a windy day. Nothing extreme, but 30 with higher gusts. Wind flipped their rig causing truck to also roll. Wife very seriously injured and a year later still in a wheel chair. It's just not worth it no matter why you think you need to go and no matter how great you think you are in handling the rig in wind. Better to just sit and stay safe !

[CavemanCharlie]

The wind always blows around here. That's why we have so many wind towers. I keep an eye on the forecast and adjust my travel times around the wind. If it is blowing hard at the park I don't worry about it but, I don't like to pull my TT on days when it's to windy.

Keeping the awning in and the TV antenna down is normal for me because of the wind.

[Route_66_Travel]

I live in Kingman and yesterday the winds were from the Southwest 20-30mph, with gusts in the 40's. It's predicted to be like that again tomorrow, 11-27, with rain and snow on Friday. We had 18' of snow last February which is unheard of!

We had planned to leave for a Thanksgiving in Quartzsite tomorrow, needless to say we canceled the trip.

[discovery4us]

This happened on CA 58 yesterday. CHP says it was caused by wind. Also had a few tractor trailer blown over.

[Desert_Captain]

A couple of years ago in January we left the coach in Laughlin and rode my Harley up to Vegas to meet family and have some fun for a couple of days. The morning we left to return a huge front moved through with temps in the low 30's and north winds of 35 to 50.

We bundled up and made the ride south on 93 without complaint but when we turned east to get over the pass and down into the Colorado River Valley it got dicey. The gusts would blow us across a full lane without much warning.

When we finally made it back to the Riverside RV Park in Laughlin the coach was rocking so badly that it felt like we were driving down a twisty, potholed road. The winds, with gust exceeding 50 at times, lasted for 2 more days and we just waited it out. Driving out, up and over that long, steep nasty pass eastbound out of Laughlin was nothing I was willing to even think about in those conditions.

Sometimes you just need to revise your plans and stay put.

:S