Worst winds you've encountered

[Jchemie]

I-40 west bound thru New Mexico. Hit 60 mph head winds, saw several 18 wheelers flipped over. Winds lasted a day & a half.

[arboldt]

1) I-15 from Victorville CA south to San Bernardino, especially the last 5 - 10 miles. Canyons with smaller cross-canyons feeding crosswinds. Following an 18-wheeler at 40 - 45 mph, saw it leaning with one side almost wheels up. Suddenly found myself on left shoulder from right lane.
2) Mackinac Bridge. We've sat 3 days in Cheboygan waiting for winds to ease before crossing the Straits.


We've encountered winds across I-80, I-40, etc. but those two were the worst.

[ChristiB]

Omaha, NE. The 5th wheel next to us (which was a huge rig) moved a foot during the storm, We were in our tiny 23 ft Class B+. thought we were going over several times through the night during a storm. Next day said gust where over 72 mph at airport. Also got caught in a hail storm, lucky we only had a broken windshield. Made it back to CA. and got a new one. We also use the "Ventusky app" for winds.

[timgreene777]

Originally Posted by SageTrek

Hi fellow 5ers,

We've been traveling the country full-time for the last 14 months and I wanted to compare notes on the worst winds you have encountered in your travels. Here's my short list of worst and areas that I thought would be bad but we traveled through on a good day:

Worst:
1) Columbia River Valley, approaching Portland from the east
2) West Texas
3) Arizona-New Mexico border

Surprisingly we've avoided the worst winds in Wyoming and Colorado, although that I-25 south of Trinidad nearly made the list.

The State of Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River Bridge crossing after a Hurricane hit the East Coast! I was in a 1989 Coachman Class C. The wind literally picked up the front of the Coach about half a foot off the ground, once to the right and then back to the left side! I was glad to get off that Bridge along with about 30 other Rv'ers and make it to a Flying J for the nigh! It looked as if John Wayne had circled the Wagons yeo!

[RV Tinker]

Worst wind ever encountered was at Hole in the wall campground, CA. Don't know what the wind speed was, but it was lifting up and tilting one side of my Class C while parked at the campsite. Wife wanted to leave but was no way I was going to attempt to drive when the wind was doing that when I was standing still.

[shainker]

Driving west across South Dakota in late October 2021, we encountered 50 - 60 mph winds from the north. We are normally aware of the weather, but missed a mid-day advisory for strong winds. The winds tore our awning off the side of our RV and it started banging against the passenger side of the RV and the roof. Pulled over on the side of I-80 (in the midst of the pelting rain and wind) and saw the mess. The awning was shredding in the wind and mostly unrolled. We took the remainder of the awning off the RV, having to leave it on the side of the freeway. We now watch the expected wind speed more carefully in the weather reports. Insurance is coving the repairs.

[bobfrommaine]

Oh, the memories!
On the motorcycle, rode across Iowa on a 500 mile day with 50-70 mph crosswinds. Actually raised feathers on the front tire from leaning into the wind!
On the RV; Wyoming! The put electronic signs up before the interstate telling what the predicted wind speed is for the day. I've seen 85 mph predictions! They have signs telling you the recommended way of pulling off the road in a dust storm.
Route 10 (I think) driving across Arizona to San Diego, 70 mph tail-wind, I actually got over 10 mpg!!!! Unfortunately on the return trip 2 days later we had 60+ mph headwind and I got a whole 3 mpg!
B0b

[Palmeris]

Worst while traveling - Trans Canada Highway between Cumberland and Moncton- 60mph sustained with higher gusts

Stationary - Hurricane Jeanne 2004- Cat 3 storm with 120mph winds which was 1 week after Hurricane Francis Cat 2 had visited with 90 MPH winds to end the year with Hurricane Wilma cat 3 at 120 MPH -- was a bad year to be living in south Florida

[merfey]

I-25 north from Cheyenne to state hwy 20. Lost my man card when a semi passed our 5th wheel doing a dog walk.

[hclarkx]

I've had the fifth wheel blown off of the 2x6 blocks under the front jacks twice, once on a bluff overlooking the Pacific on the CA central coast at the south end of Big Sur. Scary but lasted only a few of hours. Worse was a night in a canyon in the Valley of Fire State Park east of Las Vegas. The rig rocked heavily all night and the front jacks moved over a foot during the 10 hour blow. I want to go back there but the DW won't hear of it.

[FL420]

In an RV: driving my first RV I had just purchased, a 40' DP, from Mesa, AZ to Louisville, CO on I-25 during a blizzard at night. The box trailer of the semi I was following was leaning about 20° to the right. If he went over I was gonna stop for the night.
In an RV: driving north to the UP on the Mackinac Bridge the wind started pulling our over the entry door awning out and loudly slamming it shut repeatedly against the side of the coach. It was coned off to a single lane all the way across the bridge with no place to pull over.
In an RV: just a month ago we were travelling south on CO93 just south of Boulder where the recent Marshall fire destroying Superior and half of Louisville started. The highest reported crosswind in Boulder that afternoon was 79 mph.
In an aircraft: I was flying solo in a Stinson 108 Voyager cross-country from California to, I forget where, when I made a fuel stop at the Cheyenne, WY Municipal Airport. The wind was blowing pretty steadily at a speed above the plane's stall speed. I made a flaps up wheel landing because if I lowered the tailwheel the increased angle of attack on the wing would have sent me back into the air. I basically air taxied to the parking area on the ramp and stopped with the tail still in the air between 2 tiedown chains attached to a long steel cable anchored to the concrete. I realized if I shutdown the engine and climbed out of the aircraft to secure the tiedown chains to the tiedown fittings the wind would have blown the aircraft away before I got out of the seat. I called the employee of the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) on the radio, explained my predicament, and asked him to come out and tie me down so I could shut down the engine. He did and I was very grateful.
In an aircraft: the very last phase of training for a Naval Aviator to qualify to be a fleet pilot was to successfully complete 6 day and 6 night catapult takeoffs and arrested landings aboard an aircraft carrier. My carrier qualifications, aka CarQuals, in the F-4J Phantom II were aboard the USS America (CVA-66) in 1969 about 100nm east of Jacksonville, FL.
My first night "cat shot" went well even though it was darker than a well digger's(well you know how dark that is) with clear weather but no moon. I was just happy that I remembered to lock my right elbow into my side so I didn't over-rotate into a stall and use the throttle friction lock so I didn't pull the throttles back to Idle under the G forces of the cat shot.
I was loaded with a little extra fuel so I would have a little extra in case I had to extend downwind because there were 4 or 5 of us rookies airborne at the same time. The deck was pitching a little bit so some guys were having a little trouble getting aboard the first time. I was one of them as I flew a pretty good pass but boltered on my first try and didn't catch a wire. The maximum allowable fuel load crossing the ramp was 5,200#. I had to fly an extended pattern due to other bolters which cut into my fuel reserves and was directed to Bingo to NAS Jacksonville as my fuel state was below the minimum to fly another try to trap aboard the ship.
I immediately raised the landing gear, flaps and tailhook as I turned to the heading provided by the controller. I climbed at military power(100% RPM without afterburner) on the speed/Mach No. and to the altitude published in the Flight Manual and on a kneeboard card for a 100 nautical mile distance. After reaching 39,000' IIRC, I immediately began calculating my groundspeed from my Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) based on how many nautical miles I was travelling per minute and comparing it to my no wind speed displayed on my True Airspeed(TAS) Indicator. It became apparent that I was bucking a 100 knot headwind and fuel was gonna be very tight. And it was...
After an Idle power straight in descent from 39,000' I landed and shutdown with 600# of fuel. It wasn't until several years later when I became an F-4 instructor that I learned that the allowable fuel gauge error on the F-4 was 600#. Whew!
Apparently, whoever on the ship calculated the Bingo fuel state for the F-4s didn't check the current winds aloft or the current distance to the Bingo field. Due to the moving deck and the winds aloft CarQuals were suspended until the next night.
[emoji40][emoji382][emoji382]... [emoji382][emoji40][emoji106]

[Kountry_star]

I 80 WY!! Two 18 wheelers, 2 travel trailers and a Ryder truck on there sides. We took refuge in a rest stop until it died down the next day.

[HBruceB]

I-75, Machinac Bridge; we have a 1997 Natioal RV Dolphin, went across bridge winds were 30 gusting to 50, our awning decided to open half way across, we managed to get partially rolled up wither material still enrolled. My wife was holding it down out the side window till we got across. No damage but what an experience.

[LAKnox]

The worst winds I've towed in were relatively mild and had a low-profile, and relatively heavy, FW. Spent the night in Moab and headed N to I-70. All the way up UT 191 and E on 70, it was blowing about 40-50, quartering from the NE-ish. Just slowed down to about 50 and kept on truckin'. No dust, thank goodness.

Another time while "driving", I was working a night shift doing some custom tractor work for a friend who blew up his tractor and needed to get a field prepped for planting. Monsoon storm came through about 10PM and was blowing upwards of 70. I was in a John Deere 4630 weighing in about 25,000 lbs. Had to stop and sit in the middle of the field for about 15 minutes as the dust cloud blew through as I couldn't see my tracks. After the dust, mostly, blew through, I kept on, but I could feel the wind rocking me pretty good. Full moon, so I turned off the lights and could easily see my tracks.

=Worst= winds I've been in was when I visited a GF in Boulder CO. A chinook came down Boulder Canyon and it was incredible. NCAR / NOAA recorded something like 12 gusts > 120 with a peak of 146. We were on the second floor and the building was swaying so much that we just grabbed our blankets and slept on the ground floor. Oh, yeah. Went to Vail to ski and had to keep power ON driving down the slope on the W side of the tunnel. Surprisingly, there was almost no wind on the slopes.

Lyle