Have winds ever forced you off the road with your RV? High, gusting cross winds are the worst, and the evidence of what can happen shows up often on YouTube videos and elsewhere.
So what’s your experience? Please leave a comment if you’ve had any memorable experiences (hopefully, no bad accidents, but if that’s happened, please explain and maybe save another RVer from trouble).
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I am based in the Palm Springs area. We have consistently high winds in the Coachella Valley, With that in mind, it always plays a factor when I head home and when I leave.
Also since I traverse the desert of the Southwest I deal with 40+ MPH winds on a regular basis.
For those unfamiliar Interstate 15, 40 and 10. Also, Hwy 395 can be really windy.
I 80 across southern Wyoming is known for high winds. We traveled the route a couple of days ago and winds about 18mph However the road is more trucks than cars and campers and hilly too. This time we were ok but we travel the route frequently and have pulled over before. I 90 further north is not as bad.
On our way North at the beginning of April through Missouri on I-35, we pulled off early afternoon due to high winds, which continued through the night. Way too stressful! Our drive the following day was a piece of cake, by comparison.
Living in Colorado and having to go east across Kansas,, you get wind.. I have found that if you drive in a heavy side wind, it will wear the edge of the front tires on the sides down.. that is because of having to correct for the pressure on the side of the motorhome pushing it sideways…. So, I just wait until the wind lets up and go on my way.. Also,, we get some very strong winds in Colorado, just last week, that stopped all high profile trucks and RV’s from traveling I-25 beause of the wind..
Once just east of of Amarillo on I-40. Semis and class A’s were actually blowing over. We pulled into the first rest area and got the last diagonal parking slot between 2 semis. Sat there all day until 8 PM. The wind died then and we all left. The overturned semi in front of the pull off was just getting righted. The weather alert on our CB has saved us twice over the years, once tornado and once bad hail.
The mighty Mackinaw Bridge. Wow. That can raise a few brows. If the bridge is having a great day they will have you cross at a slow rate of speed. Then at times you are not allowed to cross if you are a high profiled vehicle. So cross if you dare otherwise enjoy the view from the middle lane. But I don’t ever remember having to pull over due to high winds. Just be careful out there.
Traveling west on Hwy 2 through Minnesota, late afternoon, the weather station reported high winds and heavy rain, so we pulled into a small town park (it was quite a distance to find a town).. It was quite a storm.. We rocked and rolled while parked during the storm..
My dh worried the whole time that we would be asked to leave because it was posted for ‘No Overnight Camping”. I assured him, no law enforcer would be out checking the park.
After the storm, against my desire to stay for the night, my dh insisted we leave because we were illegally camping, and concern for flooding (lots of surface water and the park was on a river).
OKKKK Traveling west on Hwy 2 again. No traffic, so we could use the whole road as the high winds buffeted the sides of our 29’ Winnie Class C. Then we heard “Floup, floup, floup.” The awning was letting loose!
We pull over (not much, due to a ditch). Picture my dh and I trying to secure the awning, that now was acting like a sail in a gale! As he was tempted to tear the offending awning off, somehow we got it tied up just as we could see headlights coming down the road..
A man in a pickup stopped! We saw the sheriff star on the side of the truck.. There’s more to the story., but you get the picture. Sometimes you must stop even if it isn’t a designated camping park. .
3 times … 1st on I10 west bound near El Paso … Oncoming wind so strong we had to use 2nd gear on our truck/camper to get to the next exit and wait it out (many semis on their sides). 2nd was on WA Route 14 in Columbia River Gorge .. the shadow of my new class A showed my awning doing its best flag impression .. tied down with bungees until I could get to a truck stop in Tri Cities. 3rd was on I5 southbound in Oregon near Grants Pass when the semi passing me blew sideways and fishtailed so close that my mirror was grazed but not broken.
It was more the sideways wind that drove us off the road. It got hard to see anything ahead of us, so as soon as we saw an exit with any kind of life, we pulled off and waited it out.
We lower our speed and travel during the morning hours if winds are forecast to be high. There is usually less traffic in the morning. Makes for safer travel and you have plenty of afternoon free time to enjoy the area.
Just last week on our way through Oklahoma and Texas we decided to get off the interstate and onto a secondary road that paralleled the interstate. No truckers to add to the problem and could go much slower without other drivers tailgating. The winds actually seemed much less buffeting on the secondary road.
There were a few times when I approached the limits of common sense and was considering not towing but rather pulling to a stop and sitting it out. I could feel the grasp of the wind pushing me around from side to side but there simply was no way to get away from the wind and, thus, I continued at a much reduced speed limit.
Westbound thru Barstow, Ca May 2017. Pulled over but not a safe area… resumed at a slow speed. 25 foot class C Thor/sprinter
We were planning to go to Glenwood, NM, to the Cosmic Campground this past Thursday in our 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 with our 2001 35′ CrossRoads travel trailer. At 8am, winds in the Albuquerque area were close to 50mph with higher winds forecast all across the state. We stayed home.
I’ve been towing for 4 years and have never pulled off due to wind. I have planned travel around wind forecasts and if I needed to drive I kept my speed down and stayed off interstates. Last year we got caught in the highest winds I’ve ever driven through in the “Wreckhouse” section of the CCH in Newfoundland (with heavy rain to boot). I couldn’t stop without risking getting hit in poor visibility.
Haven’t pulled off because of the wind, but maybe should have. Heading into the wind near Odessa, Texas a few years ago a gust blew the top of the windshield loose and cracked the passenger side. It took the insurance company 10 days to approve a new windshield and get it installed. Also had the awning deploy in a cross wind near Chesapeake Bay. If high winds are forecast, we call the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and reroute if they have restrictions.
We hit real high winds leaving Bolder Dam last year. Shook our awning loose. Luckly we were able to get it secured with some hose clamps I had. Found a place and pulled in till winds calmed down some. One other time we hit bad storm in PA. Got into a Flying J and spent the night with about 50 other campers and trucks just hunkering down to avoid the storm which in included high winds and heavy down pours. Most times seems you hit these winds in the west
My survey will not show, but you can add my yes to the tally..Crossing from Texas into Oklahoma, the wind/rain were coming down hard enough to blow us around. We slowed way down to a crawl, and 2 miles inside Oklahoma there was a campground..got there and set up, TV on..tornado warnings in several counties..My son put the rain gear back on and went to the office to check what county we were in.. Yep we were in one of the tornado counties..the host said they were montering it and would let us know if we had to go into the office basement..My son told him, “My mom can handle California earthquakes,, but wasn’t sure about tornados” The RV quit rocking and rolling about midnight..
We don’t drive when the winds are high. 40 foot motorhome and toad. Nope!
About 6 years ago were driving our 38 ft. Class A west in Wyoming
I-80 toward Salt Lake City. We had a strong cross wind. A gust picked us up, with a tow car, and put the drive wheels in the passenger wheel track and the passenger wheels on the ditch side of the rumble strip. We were traveling at about 60 miles an hour. I slowed down, we rocked like we might tip over but I got control of the RV and back on the road. Happened so fast we did not think about it until it was over. Felt like an out of life experience. Stopped at a RV park for 2 days to recover. That Fall traded the 38 ft in on a 44 ft tag axle with 12,000 pounds more weight. Smooth sailing since.
One time we had to pull over and couldn’t cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge due to high winds
Many years ago we had the roof peeled off the motorhome due to winds so high that big rigs were pushed over and clear across the road at the foot of the Grapevine on I5 in CA. Needless to say we stopped, got butt to the wind and hunkered down. Just this last week while traveling near Amarillo,TX on I40 we got into some serious gusts and when a big rig nearly ran us off the road when being pushed around by the wind we decided that discression was the better part of valor and pulled off the highway at a lovely roadside attraction featuring a 250 Ft cross and stayed for two days until that wind cleared up some. It’s just not worth taking our lives in our hands and trusting others to be good drivers. We’re retired so we don’t have to be out there and running scared in our truck camper.
I responded “no” as your question was “in last few years” which I interpret to be 5-7 years. However, back in 2007 we did pull off in the middle of Nebraska when high winds were buffeting our 36 ft diesel. Was trying to check map while weather-band radio announced which counties had tornado watches/warnings. Seemed these watches/warning were south and west of us as we headed east. Pulled off into a KOA where we spent night with slides in.
We have had to pull off the road and also delayed continuing our trip because of high winds. That has been a good decision because we have heard about trucks being blown over on each occassion.
Another vote for “No, but did not travel one day because of the winds.” We were camping in very high winds and my wife was afraid and wanted to drive home. Had to tell her it was much more dangerous driving in the wind than sitting in the wind.
Never had to get off the roads, we have stayed put several times because of forecast high winds. Nice when you don’t have an agenda to adhere to.
Yep. At least one really bad experience on the I-10 in Desert Hot Springs, CA. My 16′ awning jumped it’s attached stanchion & partially deployed. Luckily we were traveling with companions and I had help securing it with a rope-line I carry. I did manage to shatter my skylight in the process when a wind-gust sent me into it.
Several years ago we fought terrible winds going the short distance from Winslow, AZ to Flagstaff.. HORRIBLE. That trip took several hours and had us white knuckling the whole time. The problem was really no place to pull off and wait it out.
While staying on the Oregon coast I have had to pull in my slides a couple of times because of the wind…
I agree with TP. If it’s going to be really windy we just don’t get ON the road. And so far, we haven’t experience a problem when on the road.
One has to only experience once the impact of a high crosswind gust while pulling any RV trailer to know the feeling of a tight “derrière”.
I said “once” because I’ve slowed WAY down when schedule wouldn’t let me stop.
I will not drive in bad weather. Not worth it. All I had to do is watch a video of trailers flipping over because of the wind!
In southern New Mexico and Arizona high winds and blowing dust have closed portions of I 10 and we had to detour. We found a nice campground and stayed put for the night. Also delayed starting a trip because of the winds.
Agreed about Southern New Mexico…we wintered in Alamogordo and put up with winds blowing that nasty white dust all over.Never again.
I just slow way down in that kind of weather.
No, but the worst wind we ex0perienced was a few years ago in South Dakota when we were hit by a head wind of substantial speed that really did a number on my MPG for the day.
Never had to but would if we encountered them.
Suggest you add one more entry to the high winds survey —
Do you avoid windy travel altogether (or similar)
Otherwise the survey is not applicable
Didn’t actually pull off the road. We purposely didn’t get on the road due to high winds.