Storm Prep

[daplumbr]

When camping and a severe thunderstorm watch or warning is issued (wind/rain/hail/lightning), what special preparations are 1) critical 2) good if you have time. 

[subaruwx]

Severe thunderstorm watches just mean condition are right for possible severe weather to develop. Same for tornado watch (or any watch) - conditions are generally favorable but may not necessarily develop.

A warning means severe conditions are imminent. Severe thunderstorm warnings mean high winds or large hail - they are not issued by National Weather Service for heavy rain or frequent lighting.  I'd say the best thing would be to retract the awning and secure anything that could blow around.  Not much you can do about hail.

Moving under a tree or bridge has drawbacks - if there is lighting, under a tree is the last place you should be. Repeat - DO NOT GO UNDER A TREE if there is lightning. The camper itself is a better place to be in lightning. Hail might cause some dents in the camper, but moving it under cover takes time.

 If there is a tornado warning, get out of the camper and move into a building or lie down in a low spot protecting your head. Under a bridge is a bad place to be if there is a tornado. The wind amplifies under the bridge and increase the likelihood of an airborne camper.

[leslie]

Ah, very good answer. You could work for The Weather Channel!

[david]

I'll tell you a story about camping in severe weather:

Many, many years ago I was camping alongside a creek on Lake Travis near Austin in a pop up camper. As we were ready to douse the campfire and go to bed, I noticed a strong line of thunderstorms approaching- by eye, long before radar was available by cell phone ;-).

So I backed up the car to the hitch and hooked the safety chain to the car just in case. I drove two heavy tent stakes on opposite corners and ran a line from them up to the top of the camper. We did have a rockin and rollin hour or so as the thunderstorms rolled through. But we were fine.

The next morning I looked across the creek about 100 yards and noticed a small group of people gathered around the shoreline. One person was diving down to their full size travel trailer that had blown down the slope into the creek and was almost covered with water. Later that day a big tow truck showed up and pulled the trailer out of the water.

Lesson learned.

So I would suggest making sure that your stabilizer jacks are set tight and if really concerned do what I did- chain the hitch to your TV and maybe tie down to heavy tent stakes. Beyond that the only other thing that will help is to screw hurricane tie downs such as are used for park trailers near the four corners and tie the trailer down. That will probably let you survive any hurricane force winds, but not a direct tornado hit.

David

[admin]

From my perspective I think any solid travel trailer will have a much easier time with sever weather simply because of the fact that they are solid. Retract the awning and secure any items that can blow away, thats about all you can do. Maybe also do a quick walk around the camper to make sure all the doors and hatches are closed and secure.

However when you are in a pop up, and even more so with the QuickSilvers I think sever weather can be a much bigger concern. In a traditional pop up you typically have a solid roof in the center of the rig which can provide some protection, but ultimately in a pop up its just a layer of fabric between you and the weather. With this in mind I usually plan for the worst and scale back depending on the rig and situation. My list is as follows:
1. Secure any loose items around camp.
   - This includes securing camp chairs, towels, trash, etc.
2. Secure awning and/or shelter(s).
   - If I had an awning attached to the QS and I knew about severe weather with enough time I'd take it off to prevent any damage to the seams. If we have some other shelter this would include securing the tie out points or even taking it down.
3. Check surroundings for natural debris.
   - Are there any possible branches that could drop? Any debris that could possibly get blown into or damage the rig? etc
4. Check the stabilizers to confirm a firm fit.
5. Move bedding and items away from the "walls".
6. Might even unplug from the campground electrical if there is a concern of heavy lightning strikes or surges.
7. Prep the tow vehicle, or have a known shelter location.
   - If the weather is bad enough I plan to ride it out in the TV or a solid shelter building. Hail would be a situation where I might ride it out in the TV.

I've seen our QS make it through some nasty storms without issue so in general I'm not real worried about high winds. I'm more concerned about what the winds might blow around or cause to drop. The concerns are all relative and I would think they are the same for a Camplite, except what might only damage them could be a lot worse for a QS.

[livinthegoodlife]

We don't fool around with big storms like that.  We lost a pop up at Oregon Inlet on the Outer Banks a little over twenty years ago. It was in the 90's with 100% humidity. It looked like it was going to rain, so we decided to run to the grocery store before the storm hit. We ended up having to pull over to the side of the road with how hard it was raining and the wind.  When we got back, the ranger asked my husband to step into the Ranger's Station.  As he was in there, I looked out my window and could not believe the destruction!  There were campers laying on their sides, tents all over the place and people packing up and leaving.  Our camper had completely flipped over ripping the top off.  A lady sitting in one of those webbed lawn chairs saw the storm coming and just held on to the sides of the chair.  The wind carried her up and over the sand dunes and dropped her next to the ocean.  She made it back over the dunes to the campsite and panicked because she thought we were still in the camper along with our two young daughters.  She had some men help her try to turn the camper over before someone told her that we had left. There were tents blown out in the ocean too.  Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. On Ocracoke Island in North Carolina we have also weathered a severe lightning storm where the flashes were like a strobe light. We always head into a strong structure and prepare for the worst. As much as we love our camper, it is not worth risking your life.

[daplumbr]

The real life storm experiences help to think about safe prep. The comment about looking overhead and in the vicinity for things that could fall/blow into the trailer is one I had not considered.