Do you heed wind warnings?

[Acheron2010]

I'd like some advice from you experienced folks. While I have been in some 30 mph gusts coming over the Tehachapi with no problems, I am now in Tucson, bound for Las Cruces. The weather people have issued a wind advisory of up to 70 mph gusts, and they are closing White Sands Missile Range. I'm inclined to stay put for a day. I lose a camp reservation, but am in no hurry. Your thoughts?

[DryFly]

Stay where you are and enjoy life with your Aussie! a wind of 70MPH is WAY too strong; maybe you'd get through ok, why risk it? It's all downside,

[SilverWind]

Enjoy Tucson for a couple of days. Anything above 30-40 mph in an AS can be gnarly.

[A W Warn]

I would not tow in 70 mph cross winds. Stay where you are.

[OTRA15]

Trust your gut!



Stay put IMO.

[TexAirS]

Most of the high winds in the SW begin with daytime heating in the spring. If you don't mind traveling at night or very early in the morning, you can get where you have to go. May have to stop by 10am.



Lived with it in El Paso, TX for 20+ years. We were sent home from grade school several times because the winds were forecast to be hurricane strength.



Is it windy right now at 5am MDT?


John

[Philip Jones]

Agree - gut check becomes more and more important as we grow older. I listen to my “spidey sense” far more than I used to. If it doesn’t feel right, there is almost invariably a problem. Pause and sort it out, or, in this case, stay put until safe conditions appear.

[Overstreet]

This one is that "bomb cyclone" weather effect they are predicting. It won't necessarily do the daily routine winds. Stay put.

[AlinCal]

Hopefully you are in a sheltered location and stay put, aside from the obvious danger of towing in high winds the sandblasting can do real damage to tv and trailer.

[Dan and Liz]

I had car paint and windshields sand-blasted a couple of times in the Mojave. I’d keep the Airstream off the road and in a sheltered spot as much for that reason as because of the driving hazard.

[rbs]

we also are anal weather watchers and it has paid off. We steer clear of high winds, which also can cause blinding dust storms, and dangerous fire conditions. We have been caught in unavoidable situations and was glad we have a ProPride hitch

[Shermy1987]

I might as well play the devils advocate. We drove all day across the Pan Handle with over 70mph cross winds. It was a struggle just to walk. We dont have a stabilizer hitch and our TV was more stable towing our Air Stream than it would have been unhitched. Sadly, the "big white box" we saw upturned along the way didn't look like it had coped too well.

Air Streams act somewhat as an air foil in strong winds and keep very stable.

[BigSxyWhtGuy]

We have driven in heavy winds but got to a point where we just pulled over and stayed the night. Heavy rains came in shortly after we pulled over too, glad we stopped. A strong gust will move the trailer across the lane.. a sustained long gust can tip a semi truck. We are a bit lower so I don’t know what our tipping point would be, would rather not find out though.

I remember asking about advice on driving in the snow. Most people responded, “dude, you’re in an Airstream. Just park and wait out the snow!” Or “why would you ever consider driving in the snow?”

Cooler heads will always prevail. I enjoy just chilling. What’s the rush?

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by Acheron2010

I'd like some advice from you experienced folks. While I have been in some 30 mph gusts coming over the Tehachapi with no problems, I am now in Tucson, bound for Las Cruces. The weather people have issued a wind advisory of up to 70 mph gusts, and they are closing White Sands Missile Range. I'm inclined to stay put for a day. I lose a camp reservation, but am in no hurry. Your thoughts?

Ever been in a sand storm..it will ruin everything

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by Acheron2010

I'd like some advice from you experienced folks. While I have been in some 30 mph gusts coming over the Tehachapi with no problems, I am now in Tucson, bound for Las Cruces. The weather people have issued a wind advisory of up to 70 mph gusts, and they are closing White Sands Missile Range. I'm inclined to stay put for a day. I lose a camp reservation, but am in no hurry. Your thoughts?

It’s an advisory. Keep an eye on the Actual winds as you go. I use airport AWOS to check actual surface winds.

[kidjedi]

Losing a night's reservation is considerably more favorable than losing your trailer or a life. I drove through a tornado in Illinois last December. It was visually quite beautiful, but I don't recommend it.

[kfrere]

We live fulltime in our trailer. Earlier this year we had wind advisories of 65+. It truly got that bad so we ran for the bathhouse and spent the rest of the night talking with other campers in a bathhouse with no power. (People look very interesting the light of cell phones!)

A month later winds of 85 were predicted. To get some sleep so we wouldn't be tired at work the next day we drove to a nearby Hampton and stayed there. Worked great.

Both times the CG was a mess the next day, but, trailer was fine. Fortunately, none of the stuff flying around pierced the skin.

[Nomad518]

As others have said, stay put. I’ve driven into a sustained 45 mph headwind with no problems but it was not fun and my gas mileage was dismal. Take the closure of the military base as your sign to take this storm seriously.

[drbrick]

Aways safety first ... if it doesn't feel right for you - it probably isn't ... PS. I would not travel with that wind warning (definition of warning: a statement or event that indicates a possible or impending danger, problem, or other unpleasant situation.

[57Wanderer]

We just traveled that route (Tucson to Ls Cruses) pulling our 30ft Airstream: Interstate 10 most of the way. When you cross over into New Mexico, there are numerous billboards and signs that instruct you about what to do in a SANDSTORM. It seems that they are frequent there and could be deadly. I would wait till the wind dies down.