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To all who have trekked across the US multiple times in recent years:
Has anyone been bothered, interrupted or rerouted due to the "new normal" of climate change and troublesome weather? Before we buy an RV and head out from California to New England and back again, I would love to know of any bad experiences (weatherwise) that could have been avoided. Thanks very much!
Not really, because weather has ALWAYS been a factor on roadtrips going back 2000+ years or so.
Every roadtripper should look at the weather projected to affect the next day's travel and adjust accordingly.
Mark
Not sure where to post this question. I'm concerned about the changing weather patterns - particularly in the Midwest. I would like to know if anyone who has recently crossed the country MULTIPLE times has encountered any of the flooding and tornadoes. If you have, what measures did you take to avoid or deal with the issues? Thanks very much.
Dave
Moderators Note: (Dave&Andria originally posted this query in another thread, but I've moved it here to it's own thread)
As I mentioned in my response to your query -- Weather, flooding, fires, storms have been part of a roadtripper's world for thousands of years.
I use WUnderground.com to keep track of weather along a route and we ALWAYS recommend that you use the 5-1-1 system to get current road condition reports in any of the USA states.
There are natural disasters every year. This year is no different. The flooding in the midwest is pretty dang dramatic and awful for those thousands of people affected -- but the roads will get fixed, commerce will continue, road trippers will continue to travel. The sky is not falling.
I personally have driven into and out of severe weather and survived two life-threatening tornadoes. Numerous wildfires, etc. It's just part of the adventure.
Mark
I'll give you the same answer Mark gave to your previous posting of this question.
Weather has always been and always will be a factor in planning and executing any travel plans. Weather cannot be known accurately more than a couple of days ahead of time nor more than a handful of days ahead in even the most general sense. If you want to plan you simply have to plan to be flexible.
Climate, on the other hand, is essentially the average of weather and can be generally described. But for short trips of a week or so - or less, is only useful as a guide to roughly when to travel in a given area, e.g. NOT in Tucson in August.
While it is true that the Earth is slowly warming and has been for decades due to excess greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, we are still setting record cold temperatures occasionally (weather) but we are setting twice as many heat records as cold records (climate). It is also true that, since warmer air can hold more moisture than cold air, precipitation levels are generally, but not everywhere all the time, increasing.
For what it's worth, while I have not "recently crossed the country MULTIPLE times", I do have a Ph.D. in Planetary Science.
AZBuck
One of our authors is on tour right now in Charlottesville, Virginia and there are floods all over the area. But 70 readers still braved the closures, the high water and the inconvenience and found a way to get to the bookstore on-time and that's pretty much what people do.
So, don't let the news cycles of disaster-du-jour get in the way of your planning a great road trip. Every day on the road is better than a day in the office...
Mark
Im not sure if this is a serious post or a troll but I agree with Mark and AZBuck.
If you’re REALLY that concerned about buying an RV with all the flooding that we naturally see, here is one you should consider. The Terra Wind(?)
There have been land/sea RV conversions for a long time. Usually they don't sell too well because they don't do either one particularly well. My parents, who were avid RV'ers, had a "trailerable houseboat". We had memories of this, the past week, when we found their life jackets and boat ropes still in the garage. It neither trailer'ed well, nor did it sail very well. I think they only owned it for a year or two before going to a small Class C motorhome.
Donna
I've been looking at this company for a bit recently -- they have some very interesting options. Here is a page with several of their project photos.
Mark
If I ever win the lottery, I’ll be sure to post some great road trip reports!
I could have some fun with one of these vehicles too!
Mark