Are you enjoying the fickle nature of Mother Earth’s weather changes?

Wow, what a week here in Northern Texas! We started off with nice sunny 65 degree weather perfect for a fall day and enjoyed walking the dogs through the vibrant hues of fall leaves as the trees readies themselves for winter.

The very next morning, the wind picked up dramatically and rocked our 5^th wheel while we worked to get clients geared up for winter travels. The motion in our Momentum 397^th Grand Design 5^thwheel was kind of soothing for a while. Then, the tornado warnings came!

I’m a born and raised Kansan with plenty of tornado watch and warning experience however never in an RV of any sort. While Russ calmly continued to work, my eye was on the sky looking for those tell-tale signs of needing to take cover. In this instance, we were moochdocking on our friends property and at least had a place to go if the sky turned green or clouds began to drop.

What about all of the folks out there parked in their RV homes without a place to seek shelter?

What if we were safe however our house was destroyed?

These thoughts raced through my mind as I watched the trees shake, the wind blow, and rain come down all around us in the RV. All the while, Russ was still working on a client issue with little regard for what mother nature was cooking up outside! Thank goodness for great WiFi to continue checking the radar and weather alerts. While we didn’t need to hide from a tornado in this instance, the researcher in me found the following tips on avoiding disaster in your RV.

#1. Don’t park under an overpass as the tunnel effect will increase the intensity of the wind.

#2. Park your RV next to a large structure wall like a barn, commercial building, or house.

#3. Put your stabilizers down to help with wind shaking and keep your tow vehicle connected if you have one.

#4. Stay in your tow vehicle!

If you are in eminent danger of a tornado passing over your RV, exit the vehicle and get to the lowest ground around you like a ditch or dipin the land and lay down, protecting your head with your arms until the storm passes.

This was by far the scariest time we’ve spent in the RV in our full-time adventures so far and we’re happy to report no damage. A tornadodid touch down about 30 miles from us and lives were lost. Don’t be complacent and keep an eye on the sky!

Also, please connect your phone to the local weather alerts becausewe were far enough away from town that we never heard the actual sirens thatwere going off. Exploring connected took us to a whole new level of beingprepared in our RV!

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