Weather on Power Tour

[Timl]

We are newbies coming from eastern Canada and have not had any experience with tornadoes. I have just recently come to understand that the route takes us through 'tornado alley' during tornado season. Is this correct? How should we prepare for this and is there any plans in place to ensure the participants safety? If there is a snow storm, that is no problem, but we are unsure about tornadoes. Thanks

[htrdharley]

Rain X

[riche]

Since I am from Louisiana and wouldn't have a clue what to do in a snow storm, (except make now angels and yellow snow).
I will throw out some advice, we don't get a lot of tornado but we do have hurricanes that can get a little crazy. If it looks like it bad weather listen to the radio and try to find a news station. If the bad weather is in your area and you don't feel safe just try to find shelter, sturdy commercial buildings are probably your best bet. Look for an inner room away from windows and thin walls. If you are out on a hwy in the middle of no were, look for large roadway drainage culverts, or low bridges to try to hide in. Only do that when you can tell that your vehicle is not safe to be in. A deep ditch will cut the wind down a good bit. Most of the time you can look at the direction a front is moving using your phone on weather.com and you can drive away from it.
For God sake don't run to the old barn with all the sharp swing blades hanging on the wall. (if you have seen the movie Twister, you know what I mean...) That's a FWIW... Trust me when stuff goes down, you will figure something out quick.

[70chevyC-10]

All hotels have posted "safe" areas to evacuate to if you hear tornado sirens. Outside of that everyone is on their own so tune into local radio stations for weather updates.

Here's some links to review but I've not given it much thought to be honest - but my wife reminds me to - she's the thinker in the family. Your Labatt's will be safe with me. Welcome aboard. P.S. - Lars is more familiar with hurricanes - the real ones not the New Orleans drinking ones.

http://www.bing.com/search?q=what+to...225535f6101a47

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html

[Andy4639]

Never seen a real tornado but have seen a couple of Hurricane in my life.Not fun if close by. Stay informed and keep a watch out. Find some people to run with and keep in touch.

[Andy4639]

Rain X

Harley man you ant right! I know you never said you where either!

[PacerRacer]

Timl, as a resident of the exact part of "Tornado Alley" the tour goes through, I predict the odds of even having a Tornado Warning during Powertour to be about 1:100000. I've lived in Tornado Alley all my life and have only been in 4 Warnings, 0 of which touched down where I am. I can only think of two tornados around here in the last 20 years which caused casualties, and both of them happened in Autumn.

However, you are right there is a tiny chance for a tornado, but unfortunately, there's not much in the way of preparation you can do, as we don't know where exactly we'd be when one strikes. Here in Kansas, the state advises that, if you're near a building, to seek refuge inside a room in the center of the first floor of the building as far away from windows as possible. Basements are preferable, if the building doesn't have one of those the bathroom is usually the next best bet. If no buildings are available, pull over to the side of the road and kneel in a ditch. The state warns everyone NOT to try and out drive a tornado, it will catch you, they can move at speeds of 200 mph+.

There's no really good way to tell if one is coming your way until just a few minutes before it happens, either. Sometimes the weather teams can predict them, but most of the time the best warning you'll get is that the skies will take on a green hue and all the local FM stations will get interrupted by the National Weather Service.

But I wouldn't sweat it, contrary to popular belief (thanks a lot, Wizard of Oz) Kansas doesn't see but about one tornado a year, and it's usually only on the ground for ~30 seconds. I'd be more worried about a hailstorm, which consequentially makes up a lot more damage claim $ here in Kansas than tornados, when you're coming through Wichita and Kansas City.

[dianeokie]

I am originally from tornado alley (Moore OK and Edmond OK). Yes, there could be a tornado. I remember in 2013 that there were some pretty nasty storms in Oklahoma, which caused me to detour to the south to start in Arlington. At that point, if there's a warning, you need to be in a safe place and hope for the best for your vehicle. Yes, hail is more of a threat because it's more widespread. My friend from Canada had to race around tornados in 2013 as he was headed to Arlington via Oklahoma. I was speaking with him the whole time. The wind peeled his vinyl stripes off his Corvette hood

[Damon23]

I know that I get emergency alerts on my iphone and my droid work phone for inclimate weather in the areas I'm in. If you have a smartphone just make sure those are turned on. In those areas when you get to the hotel make sure you know the evac route and where to go. If we are on the road, we all just have to do the best we can. Ditches like mentioned or under a overpass if one is around. Last year in Champaign it got a little interesting. Just after we crossed the street from eating dinner with Diane it started to let loose. Our hotel lost power for a bit. But the next morning on our way to fill up and meet the group we saw trees down all over and that was just a few blocks away. Thank God for covered parking decks. I'm more worried about hail but then again, the car's covered so as long as my son and I and all our powertour friends are OK then it's just dents.

[Jesse James 80]

Based on the past couple of months... are we going to even have a single dry day? It's been raining a ton out over that whole area.

[boosted buick]

The odds of being anywhere near the path of a tornado during your short stay in the area are astronomical. You're more likely to be struck by lightning while holding the winning powerball ticket than to be in the path of a tornado in the 3-4 days you'll be in the area. I'd be more worried about staying in safe parts of town...Us americans aren't always as polite as you Canadian folks...

[JamesMayberryIII]

High wind(speeding) with 80% chance of smog (burning rubber), fire index will be in the 85-90% from all the flame throwers, and a strong odor of Fladulence from taco bell, burgers and beer.. With a chance of wiskey shots while parked.. And a lot of rolling thunder.

[jnight32]

There were some pretty nasty storms last year as we rolled through Champaign IL and again at the finish line in Gonzales LA. We went to the drive-in event just north of Champaign and left early to get out of the tornado warning area. I remember hearing that some people got hit with hail around the hotels. Having weather apps on our cell phones helped a little but being in an area with little cell phone reception wasn't very good. The storms that rolled through the finish line forced a lot of the venders to close up early and sent people scrabbling for cover and/or the exits. Traffic also got pretty backed up when the masses tried to leave the area.

I plan on brining my scanner and a CB that can tune into NOAA weather stations this year.

[JamesMayberryIII]

There were some pretty nasty storms last year as we rolled through Champaign IL and again at the finish line in Gonzales LA. We went to the drive-in event just north of Champaign and left early to get out of the tornado warning area. I remember hearing that some people got hit with hail around the hotels. Having weather apps on our cell phones helped a little but being in an area with little cell phone reception wasn't very good. The storms that rolled through the finish line forced a lot of the venders to close up early and sent people scrabbling for cover and/or the exits. Traffic also got pretty backed up when the masses tried to leave the area.

I plan on brining my scanner and a CB that can tune into NOAA weather stations this year.

Hail storms.. I'd bring a few cheap h/f moving blankets to put over the top of vehicle till it passed..

[jnight32]

Hail storms.. I'd bring a few cheap h/f moving blankets to put over the top of vehicle till it passed..

And would you look at that, harbor freight is running a sale on those until the 31st :D