Okay you folk who live out on the plains or in tornado country - we're headed west and never even had to think about tornados. Blizzards and sub-zero temps are pretty easy in comparison. We have an Oregon Scientific weather radio with an alert feature which we'll keep on and with us all the time. But how do you know which way to go? or what do you do if there is a tornado alert? We'll be in land unfamiliar to us and don't have a clue what to do. Are there well marked public shelters? Do big box stores and campgrounds have shelters? What say you folk who deal with this weather phenomena? Do you stay in your camper or try to find a shelter? After seeing photos on the night news of Parkersburg, OH which is very close to our path west and now is pretty well destroyed, what do you do with a TC in a tornado?
Anne and Joe
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On the Road Again from Rural Maine Our travel blog with photos
We've had several close encounters with tornadoes in the central west (in Nebraska last May, and in the front range of Colorado in 2005, and Tulsa, Oklahoma in May 2004).
The best preparation is the weather radio alert that you have. Leave this on 24/7 while driving through any of the tornado-prone states west of and including: Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky. Always. BTW: the areas prone to tornadoes now pushes well into Maryland, western New York state and Virginia now! However, tornadoes are far less likely in these states compared with central west.
-Be aware of what **county** you are driving through and camping in at all times;
-when you stop to set up camp, immediately ask campsite manager where the emergency shelter is located;
-be ready with a flashlight on camper table to scramble to shelter at any time of the night (many, many tornadoes hit during pitch-black of night!);
-know that the chance of you running into a tornado, or a tornado running into you is extremely slim at best, but just the same, be prepared!
*Tornadoes now tend to be active at ANY time of the year; however the most active months are: May and June (and, lesser extent, July).
Cheers,
Silver-
*On edit: forget about outsmarting a tornado if it sneaks up on you, either when parked/camped, or when awakened from dead sleep at night by a warning siren or your weather radio; get to the shelter ASAP. The only possible way to outsmart a tornado is if you see it coming from a distance, and you have time to stop, assess it's general direction of movement, and you can/have space to reverse direction and speed away if need be!
* This post was
edited 05/26/08 05:38pm by silversand *
If you get a Tornado Warning on your radio you shouldn't GO anywhere but take shelter. GOING somewhere is about as dangerous a thing as you can do unless you are VERY WELL acquainted with the territory you're in. One of the bad things about weather radio or even public broadcasting warnings is for those who are unfamiliar with the region not knowing if the warning actually includes them and in what manner. A good highway map showing counties is a great idea since county names are often the only means of locating a tornado warning area.
Anne: On our trip last year through Arkansas we skirted two of those terrors, one to the East of us and one to the West of us. Listening to the radio ( a must) and plotting the locations with our Delorne (thanks to you), we managed to stay in the clear. The best advice we got was stop and go in the opposite direction until it was clear then set out again. With a TC it's easy to do. At night we parked in the back of a building In fact just across the way was John Daly's restaurant and his fancy motor coach and Hummer. He had more to lose than us!
Good advice from all so far. Weather radio is the key here, as well as Silver's suggestion to always recognize the county name where you are located.
I seem to recall you plan on heading for the northern plains. Most storm systems that will eventually produce tornadoes will spawn by mid to late afternoon at the latest. If you can keep Internet connection and check weather radar, as well as your weather radio, that can help. I think you plan on hitting the Black Hills. They in and of themselves are pretty rare for tornadoes, although any of the plains areas surrounding them can have one this time of year. But, at the same time, Black Hills area can get some nasty hail storms.
But, there have already been some good suggestions. It's a huge area out here, and one really needs bad luck in a lot of cases to get close to a tornado.
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We never know where we're going till we get there!
I think I would be pretty afraid to be in a "big box store" during a tornado...
You want to be on the lowest floor, in a small, interior room to have the best chance to avoid flying debris.
Unfortunately, in most campgrounds that leaves the restroom as your only option, because you DO NOT want to be in a camper, and that's the only other place at the campground.
Just last night, we were fortunate to be in a big state park that had a lodge when a storm blew through that had 60 MPH winds and could have spawned tornadoes. Once we knew the storm was headed our direction, we had enough time to get to the lodge and spend about 45 minutes in the game room in the basement of the lodge. (Definitely a nice place to wait out a storm compared to the average restroom!) After the storm, there was a wonderful drop in temperature, no wind, and a beautiful sunset.
We spent many hours one night near Williston ND in the restroom of Lewis & Clark State Park. Only shelter around. High winds, hail, tornadoes reported all around us.
I was just amazed at the nice people I met in the restroom that night! We even got some card games going! A crazy night that turned out to be fun, despite all the bad things going on around us.
Just turned on county boundaries in DeLorme mapping so the names would show. Mostly we will be fairly high up in the country but weather can be and is anywhere. We'll be using mostly turnpikes to get west where we switch over to the smallest roads we can find. You take your chances anywhere you go.
Maine to Mass Pike, across to Albany, through Buffalo then to Ashtabula, OH to the Great Lakes Marine and Coast Guard Museum. On I-80 over to I-74 to Dearborn and the Henry Ford Museum. Past Toledo, skirt under Chicago via I-80 to Amana, Iowa and the Amana Colonies. Up to route 20 and over to Rapid City, SD, Grasslands, Custer State Park to Hot Springs to Moorcraft, WY, Route 16 to Thermopolis, WY. Up to Cody, WY then the Chief Joseph Highway over into Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. Return to Maine undecided
or
Yellowstone up to Glacier and back to Maine through Canada
You mentioned Parkersburg, OH in your original post. The Parkersburg mentioned in the tornado news this week was further west (Minnesota) I think. You are travelling across the upper edge of Ohio where tornadoes are not really common. The majority of tornadoes in Ohio occur in the Dayton, OH area (about 60 miles north or south or I-70). These are the flat areas in the state. We have encountered a couple of tornadoes while travelling in the truck camper. We heard the warning and encountered the heavy rain. Pulled over and found shelter in brick and mortar building. When you've seen what a small tornado can do to a metal building or a whole town (Xenia in 2000), a camper would be like a feather. Not taking that chance.
Like others have said, listen for watches and be alert. Try to find an area to pull over and head for cover. No cover - get low to the ground and stay down. If you can find a wooded area - get on the side away from the storm and stay there (the trees help break apart the wind). Same thing with hills. A sheer drop on the side away from the storm is a good place to hide. The storm may come across the hill, but if you are against the side, will ofter skip over you.
* This post was
edited 05/26/08 09:46pm by agteacher *
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We even got some card games going! A crazy night that turned out to be fun, despite all the bad things going on around us.
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