Tornado advice

[Cake sniffer]

Is it better to have the jacks down and leveled or jacks up tires down during a high wind event and tornado advisory? I’m thinking jacks up tires down and slide out in.

[Goodscout]

Just my opinion is I would want the jacks down and the slides in. I would also consider seeking shelter if available or possibly driving out of the area if you had advance notice.
Weather radios are a good thing

[Cake sniffer]

Originally Posted by Goodscout

Just my opinion is I would want the jacks down and the slides in. I would also consider seeking shelter if available or possibly driving out of the area if you had advance notice.
Weather radios are a good thing

That’s the decision we came up with as well. We put the Jacks down and slide in. We really don’t have an option of going anywhere that’s “proof”. we could leave the rig and go into a high school or stay and possibly bug out if the trees aren’t blocking the roads. It’s all a crap shoot. Never been in a tornado advisory situation. Plenty of hurricanes and massive fires. Tornados seem sketchier for sure. Hope there’s no sharks ��

[tim myers]

Putting the slides in might be a good idea if only to help keep rain water from being driven into the coach. We have been through a tornado warning, with heavy rainfall, winds what were 60 mph plus, and dime sized hail. I did not put the slides in and we had no water, but as an after thought, I wish I had retracted them, at least the big one. I could feel the Journey moving slightly but never felt in danger.
We opted to not go into the bath house as suggested by the Campground Host, cause our kids were there with us and they were staying in a tent. They remained in the tent with the dogs to keep the tent from blowing away, literally. Leaving the campground turned out to not be an option as trees had blown down and blocked the road in both directions. Power was out for about 6 hours that night, thank goodness for the generator. Interesting night for sure.

[Wayne M]

Personally I would put the jacks down just enough to stabilize, and not level. That would give me peace of mind of having all wheels and the jacks on the ground for stability. JMHO

[Cake sniffer]

Originally Posted by Wayne M

Personally I would put the jacks down just enough to stabilize, and not level. That would give me peace of mind of having all wheels and the jacks on the ground for stability. JMHO

We leveled out with the tires on the ground put the slide in and chilled out. It blew pretty hard and rained pretty good. The tornados hit south of us near where we were gonna go to get out of the storms main path. Lucky for us we stayed put. We still wouldn’t have been in the tornado path if we did go south but it would have been heavier winds and who knows what. It was more nerve racking than the heavy forest fires and hurricanes I’ve endured. Tornados suck! It’s a total roulette wheel of storms.

[71_340]

Jacks up, wheels on the ground and get the heck out of the area.

[n9wdq]

As an EMA operative and weather spotter, I would say that in the event of a tornado it really wont matter. Your vehicle will "go" regardless. Please seek proper shelter, your rig is replaceable.

[Upinsmoke]

As a previous poster said, a tornado won't care whether your slides are out or your jacks are down. The only way I'd stay in the RV is if I had zero other places/ways to go. As for having the kids and dogs holding down a couple of hundred dollar tent(!), well. . . . .

[n9wdq]

Absolutely, the tornado doesn't care. But I would never think of staying with it for that exact reason. Flat ground is better protection even though certainly no good. There are usually some form of ditches are at least a depression alongside the road if nothing else

[RHome]

We parked our motorhome close to a down-wind wall of a big box store, near the corner of the building. Slides in, jacks up.. Didn't think to seek stronger shelter outside of our rig. Will next time, thanks to this thread.

[n9wdq]

Originally Posted by RHome

We parked our motorhome close to a down-wind wall of a big box store, near the corner of the building. Slides in, jacks up.. Didn't think to seek stronger shelter outside of our rig. Will next time, thanks to this thread.

You might reconsider this thought. Wind goes around buildings unless it goes thru the building. A few months ago we had an Amazon warehouse blown away by an F-1 (rather small) tornado. Watch any news after a tornado - big buildings are not necessarily protection.

[202235f]

Originally Posted by 71_340

Jacks up, wheels on the ground and get the heck out of the area.

X2. Get the heck out of Dodge!

[Cake sniffer]

When the sharknado zone is literally a 600 mile straight line from the Gulf to Tennessee moving east….. there is no getting out. It’s only Roulette at that point. But yes if you can get out….Dude get out!

Don’t forget. In case of an emergency, your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device.!

[RHome]

n9wdq: You are right. Cement block walls can fall.

Is there somewhere else I can park a motorhome in high winds?
How 'bout between semi's at a truck stop or rest area?
Maybe close to a wall at a strip mall? Lower walls and more of them in the structure.
Are schools stronger? Park next to a school?

And then, I know. Get out of the motorhome and go find shelter.

[Jim_HiTek]

Once years ago outran a tornado I'd been listening about on the radio for hours. It actually crossed the freeway a few miles behind me and headed for the town where the station was. It was tense because the announcer stuck to the mic while his wife headed home into the storm area unaware, with her phone forgotten at home. Jeese that was crazy. She did make it home and called him based on the messages he'd left her, than headed for a shelter.

Anyway, I stopped at an RV park next to a river and just a few feet above water level (I checked) after I'd raced away a couple hours beyond but upstream the storm had dumped inches of rain in an hour and didn't look like it would let up. The park was near deserted, and after setting up with just power, checked the local TV and it didn't look good for the nearby river staying inside it's banks. Doh! It was dark at the time and seemed ominous to boot with the park so empty. The cop that slowly cruised by without stopping didn't give me any confidence in the situation.

Checked the maps, made my decision to get away from the rising river by heading east from there and turned around and left. And it turned out shortly after leaving, the road went up a very long hill, well beyond the reach of the river if it flooded. After just 5 odd miles, parked overnight at a rest stop. Out of reach of the tornado zone which by that time had settled down.

So, yeah, outrun it if possible. As far as the OP's question, slides in, jacks just touching the ground for stability so you can move on if needed.

[Indy Bob]

Well...
These are the facts surrounding high winds and CLASS A
DIESEL.
I am proud to own a 2000 Ultimate Advantage 38K.
On August 10, 2020 I was parked in Cedar Rapids. The rig was parked with the rear facing WEST. A beautiful, not a cloud in the sky day turned UGLY in 20 minutes.
At 11:45 a.m. my wife said come in and look at the news.
There was a weather lady trying to read an alert and she was shaking. She said developing thunderstorms 50 miles to the west of Cedar Rapids have joined and are growing in intensity. Winds of 90 MPH have been reported 20 miles west of TAMA. STORM is now traveling at 75 mph. It will hit the C.R. area at 12:05.
We had 15 minutes to prepare for this.
THIS IS WHAT I DID TO PREPARE THE MOTORHOME...

*Rear was already facing WEST.
*JACKS were down. I LOWERED the body down without having the JACKS leave the ground.
*AWNINGS UP AND SLIDE IN and LOCKED.
*I turned the LP GAS KNOB TO CLOSED on the 45 gal. tank.
The Rear radiator was exposed to the wind and as I was looking for a piece of plywood or something to cover the opening....Debrie was above us 100 feet
I looked to the west and maybe 20 miles away was a WHITE CRUST EDGE. Under that edge was purple with lightning like a STROBE LIGHT.
2 minutes later wind speed was a steady 30 to 35.
40 people had made it to the shelter across the street from our rig. We watched our family of squirrels run up the Ash Tree. They were screaming 😱. We fed them Peanuts by hand every morning and night. They knew!!!
I closed and locked the door. The roof vents ALL had secondary large dome covers. The openings were facing West. I opened each of the 3 about an inch to equalize the pressure.
At 12:26 we were in the shelter when winds rapped up to 85 mph. My roof mounted weather station was up there and there was no time to bring it to safety.
The station was sending information of wind speed and direction, rainfall and it continued sending about 12 minutes. Last MAINTAINED WIND SPEED REPORT WAS 123 MPH. LAST REPORTED GUST WAS WEST AT 137MPH.
Screen went blank. With all the items slamming the Shelter I thought I heard THE STATION HIT THE BUILDING.
Tornadoes can be about 4 to 6 minutes of 100 plus with damage.
This storm was 58 minutes of sustained 100 +.
90 mph would rev up to 120 mph.
Seriously....it would slow to under 100 for a few minutes and we thought it was over.
This was not stopping.
It wss a DERECHO...A LAND HURRICANE. THE BOW ECHO form on radar developed just before it entered WEST SIDE Of CR.
There was no way to see out 5 feet from the window.
Everything was going left to right.
No telling if the WINNEBAGO WAS EVEN THERE.
58 minutes and then it went to 30 to 40. We climbed out.
7 out of 10 mature old growth trees were DOWN.
PIECES of sheds. Shingles and anything that could be torn and thrown WAS EVERYWHERE.
THE Big Ash Tree 10 feet from our MOTORHOME was only 4 spokes and a trunk.
The MOTORHOME had not been hit by major limbs or debrie. The power pole behind us had a shed roof rapped around it 15 feet from the back of my rig.
Scrapes from limbs were apparent on both sides.
No window damage. Roof Vents were jammed with leaves and sticks.
My main concern was 2 things.
I hoped the rig did not move even a few inches which would have damaged the JACKS BADLY. IT DID NOT MOVE AN INCH.
The other was the radiator. Nothing like a 2 x 4 was sticking out of it. No large items at all. BUT...
Then I could see inside the vent slots, small white pcs the size of a pea were wedged in the opening. It was Vinyl Siding that had discentagrated and that was sad.
I laid black packing blankets down so I could see what debrie I would get out. Climbed under with a low pressure garden hose and blew back through. 12 OZ. CUP OF CHIPS CAME OUT.
SCHEWWWW. IT WAS FINE. NO.LEAKS.

SO...THAT'S WHAT I did for a DERECHO.
MEANER THAN ANY STORM I ever was in.
All 5 squirrels died from falling when the tree exploded. Buried them all ❤ together.
Found pieces of the Weather Station.
Good luck
.seek shelter and GOOD LUCK 👍

[Cake sniffer]

[QUOTE=Indy Bob;3916169]Well...
These are the facts surrounding high winds and CLASS A
DIESEL.


OMG! Nerve racking! And lucky for you guys, WoW.