r/vandwellers • u/Glitchyguy97 • 6d ago
Tips & Tricks Is it scary during storms/tornadoes?
I've always worried about tornadoes
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u/Rubik842 Decrepit Ex Rental Sprinter 6d ago
No, only gastroenteritis scares me.
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u/Dazzling_Chest_9262 6d ago
Best way is to get an Airbnb when this happens, trust me, just went through it.
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u/momize 5d ago
I am from KC and while it can be scary for people who are not familiar, there have inly been a couple times in my life where a tornado has touched down inside the city. your best bet is to pull up a weather site and look at the warning boxes, then get out of the warning area if you can.
I use weather.gov because it’s ad free and has all the info if you know how to use it. Clicking the map (your location) on the home page takes you to the local weather center page for the area you clicked, then click the map again for your location and it will give more detailed info for that exact location. Area warnings and watches will appear at the top.
But if you’re out in the middle of Kansas there won’t be good shelters. Your best bet is to keep yourself safe by finding a store or something to hunker down in until the storm passes. And take a backpack filled with the essentials when you leave your car.
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u/POODERQUASTE 6d ago
i mean..when there are tornado warnings you just drive away?
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u/budleighbabberton19 5d ago
Lol yeah that's a fun game when it happens multiple times a week at 2am. Just casually drive in the middle of the night in bad weather trying to listen to the radio and avoid the polygons of areas that may or may not have a mile wide tornado appear at any moment.
Oh and you're literally safer outside in a ditch during a tornado than inside a vehicle
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u/drdiggg 6d ago
Where to? On a trip across the US, I was in Kansas City in the middle of tornado warnings and had no idea what to do. The local radio was talking about how a tornado touched down in "this" area/neighborhood, then "that" one. It may have been obvious for a local, but I had no clue where these places were and whether or not I was in danger.
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u/ACanadianNoob 6d ago
I guess in a pinch you can look up sheltered concrete parking garages and pay for a night of parking there.
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u/AcMav 6d ago
You should be looking for Tornado Shelters if you're in a situation like this. Generally its advised against seeking shelter in your vehicle under bridges or in open structures like that as they act as wind tunnels, amplifying the effects. You're at high risk in an above ground non-permanent shelter, it's definitely worth taking the time to identify a local shelter. Lots of RV parks in Tornado prone areas have Tornado Shelters if you want to stay close to your van. Be safe out there
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u/Fun_Health8583 3d ago
You know what’s the funniest part? When the tornado sirens go or the radio says one touched down, Kansans all go outside to look. Not like rubber-necking or anything - just that’s the best way to assess your potential danger. Whatever comes across the radio is what was happening 5 or 10 minutes ago, and that’s just not very relevant to what’s going on now. You’re looking for areas where the clouds are starting to spiral a bit, and then if you see that, you’re looking to see what direction it’s moving, and then if it looks like it’s moving your way… “Dang it, Maw, looks like we’d better head down to the basement.”
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u/aidsy 5d ago
Did you consider looking at a map?
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u/Fun_Health8583 3d ago
…I don’t think you understand how quickly things are going when this happens.
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u/jasoncbus 5d ago
I was caught in a hurricane in Florida whilst in a minivan. I was worried, so I just got drunk and cranked these types of songs:
O Fortuna https://youtu.be/EJC-_j3SnXk?si=JLzKpQgkelGCQWDr
Ride of the Valkyries https://youtu.be/GGU1P6lBW6Q?si=UUuOFeEnZgobC6YY
It made the experience more entertaining than frightening.
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u/Fun_Health8583 3d ago
Tornados and hurricanes are not at all the same - in American English, anyway. Hurricanes are huge and do a lot more damage in general. A tornado might only touch down for a part of a block but that place where it touched down - completely flattened.
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u/jasoncbus 2d ago
Indeed, the van was a rockin'. Mother Nature was a knockin'. I had no escape, but to sit and figure out my plan as the demon approached. The rain and wind had already taken over. It was my time to go full Lieutenant Dan and fight this beast fisticuffs.
The rain began swelling and folding sideways along with the trees around me. By this time, the tequila gold was kicking in. I was set on a course from which I could not return. It was black outside. 1am vibes were there's still business open, but not for the good people.
My recourse was alcohol. It sometimes leads me to the light. This night is a shining example of why good quality liquor should be readily available for anyone at any time, just like in Europe.
My fight with the demon beast was fast, furious, futile, and fleeting. I really thought it was gonna be worse than it was hahaha. It was seriously intense for about 1.5 minutes. But I had a blast building it up to be an epic battle. Lol. I had good belly laughs that night.
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u/tocahontas77 5d ago
I mean, yes, it's scary. Nature is so majestic, and terrifying.
I was in AZ in a storm. 50mph winds. At the time, I was in my camper, and I thought my ceiling was going to fly off. I felt really stupid because I didn't check the wind rating for my camper (60mph). All was well, though.
Shortly after that, I was in my van, still in AZ. Parked in a beautiful spot. Woke up to the wind violently shaking the van. I was scared, but didn't know what to do. So I just tried going back to sleep. Luckily, it was fine.
I drove through Texas in a storm with strong winds. Ended up pulling over at a gas station for a bit to let the storm calm down some.
It is scary, but you can take precautions. Always check the weather from where you are, to where you're going. Check the weather every day, and multiple times a day if you're in an area with unpredictable weather. Like the desert or mountains. Your map is your best friend. Always know where you are, and what's around you. So if a big storm comes, you know which direction to go in to find civilization and find shelter. Some people get satellite phones for emergencies. Always give your location access to a couple of trusted people.
You shouldn't be in this situation very often. Especially if you check the weather and maps before you take off. It's generally fine. But one more tip... Check for rain if you're going to stay anywhere with dirt roads. Check for future forecast for your stay, to make sure you will be able to drive out. And have water and non-perishable food on hand, just in case. Always.
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u/HomefreeNotHomeless 6d ago
I can show you footage of my partners transit getting hit by a tornado in a Walmart parking lot. She got out and inside just in time. Was pretty much the only vehicle hit too. Spun it around and totaled it
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u/tocahontas77 5d ago
I want to see the video! I'm glad your partner was ok! Did she get another van?
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u/WaterChicken007 5d ago
Tornadoes destroy houses as well. Nothing special about vans.
Worrying about low probability events isn't helpful. Worry more about things that are likely to occur and that you can take steps to prevent. Like maybe running out of gas, which is easy to do if you always top up when it drops to less than half or touches a quarter tank.
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u/Fun_Health8583 3d ago
OK, I agree with your main point, but that first statement? No. Tornados can destroy houses but they don’t usually pick them up and throw them. Usually.
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u/WesternTrain 6d ago
Yes, scary. We got caught last year in Arkansas going from Tx to St Louis last year. Weather maps had with real tornado risks forecast for 5 hours+ in any direction we chose, it wasn’t ideal, so no great choices other than backtracking nearly completely the miles of the day (7hrs?).
We chose to stay at a Cracker Barrel near a truck stop in case we needed to seek shelter. Phones went off about 10pm telling us to seek shelter, again, not great. Thankfully just got a bit of rain.
The next morning on our primary route and our path for the day if we hadn’t stopped early: https://www.kark.com/severe-weather-coverage/national-weather-service-confirms-ef-2-tornado-touched-down-in-pocahontas/
Pretty crazy to drive through the damage caused the next morning. I learned that metal roofs can really fly and telephone poles don’t stand a chance in 125mph winds.
Anyways, yes scary. Vehicles are better for me than backcountry trips (on foot, bike or canoe) but just barely.
If the scenario was much different, like clearer weather forecast a couple hours away we would have moved but the forecast from Memphis to OKC and St. Louis to where we were made for some difficult choices. All was well, but some scary moments and difficult decisions on prudent steps to keep ourselves safe. Good luck out there.
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u/trailquail 4d ago
We were in the exact same situation two years ago. We slept on a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Bentonville AR and about halfway through the night we got up and put everything away and sat in the front seats watching the radar for about an hour thinking we were about to need to go take shelter inside the Flying J across the street. Fortunately it missed us but the next morning driving out we saw that the tornado had passed less than a mile away and giant trees were tossed around like they were nothing. It was way too much of a close call for my taste.
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u/Mharbles 5d ago
Much bigger concern of a storm dropping a tree brach on you than a tornado actually hitting your particular spot. Big winds, avoid trees. If a tornado is being tracked though and you happen to be in the path, typically drive north or south to avoid it. Chances are that knowledge will never be useful to you.
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u/magictubesocksofjoy 5d ago
the couple of times i was within a tornado warning zone, i drove out of it.
nothing ended up touching down where i was, but i simply cannot be bothered to deal with hail damage. i'd rather pay for the gas to move away from the area.
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u/Satellite5812 5d ago
I don't hang out in tornado country, but I love storms. There's one rocking the van as I read this thread, and it's so cozy, like being on a boat
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u/trailquail 4d ago
One thing you may not realize until you’re in it is that hail on the roof is extremely loud. We went through a bad storm a few weeks ago and my ears felt like I’d been standing by the stage at a concert after.
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u/Fun_Health8583 3d ago
Tornados, cyclones, and hurricanes all refer to storms with a spinning pattern in them, and are sometimes used interchangeably or with different meanings in different parts of the world. I think the answers here are mostly referring to what’s called a tornado in the US, which is a relatively small but intensely destructive funnel that comes down from the sky and basically vacuums the ground clean of everything that moves and some things that definitely should not. But I’m wondering whether you’re asking about what’s called a hurricane in the US? Those are the ones that can be 100 miles wide and last for days.
The reason I’m wondering is because a hurricane is a lot like a storm - a really, really bad storm. On the other hand, tornados are just a completely different experience, and can literally come out of a clear, blue sky. They’re more like a bomb going off, except in rare cases where they stay on the ground for several minutes and create a strip of destruction.
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u/Ok_Assumption_598 5d ago
Storms are always cool. They are going to be the same whether in a house or a van. At least in a van you can hear them better
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u/RI-Transplant 5d ago
You have wheels, you can drive away from a tornado. Storms are fucking lit.