Caught By the Gale: Bad Weather 'Wheeling

story and photos by Jim Allen

As I watch the waters rise around my new northwest Ohio home, I remember singer Gordon Lightfoot’s words, “When you’re caught by the gale and full under sail, beware of the dangers below.” This can apply to the four wheeling game as well as sailing. There are really two things to talk about, making sure you aren’t caught short by bad weather in the first place and dealing with such a situation once it occurs.

PPPPP
Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. The five “Ps.” Remember that acronym? As it relates to weather, applying those Ps starts by obtaining a weather forecast for the time you’ll be on the trail. You’d be a certified moron to go into the high country when a severe snow storm is a near certainty, but you’ll feel like one if you cancel a trip “just in case” and later find out it was a wonderful weekend. In the long run, it’s better to be a warm fool than a frozen corpse but there’s got to be a better way to make those judgments. The question becomes, where can you get the most accurate weather forecasts.

Something new in the array of safety gear are PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons). These are the same sort of technology long used to locate crashed aircraft or shot down military pilots. If you find yourself way out in the boondocks much, they are worth the approximately $500 to buy and register one. Push the emergency button and a special government authority is notified. The PLB also sends along your location so emergency people are sent from the location nearest to you. See the NOAA website for more information. You are starting to see these devices in outdoor sports stores.

Weather Forecasts
There’s nothing easier than watching the weather report on TV, assuming it will report the weather for the area where you are going. If you have internet capability, there are numerous websites devoted to weather predictions and you can get exhaustive amounts of information. Just type “weather” on your search engine and then pick the site you like from the thousands of results you’ll get. Lacking an internet source, there are usually local phone numbers for the nearest weather agency and they will often give you weather information.

Interestingly, most of the weather forecasts and weather data you hear from anywhere originates from one source, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). This is a government agency that has, among other departments, the National Weather Service (NWS). The NWS is responsible for storm predictions and all that, but also everyday weather forecasts and data collection. Some $13 of the average family’s annual federal taxes go to the NOAA and if you go to the NOAA’s website (www.noaa.gov) and see the scope of their operations, you probably agree that it’s money well spent.

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) can be a boon if you have a receiver. There are over 800 transmitters in the USA, with more coming online every year. The coverage is vast and they broadcast regular reports at specific intervals, usually updated hourly. You may have heard the weird German-sounding automated voice of the NWR service. He was called “Paul,” but he’s been retired in favor of “Donna” and “Craig.” Many newer vehicles have a built-in receiver for NWR incorporated into the stereo system. The better CB (Citizens Band) and SSB (Single Sideband) radios also have NWR capability. You can get abbreviated long and short term forecasts, as well as warnings of severe weather situations. The few extra bucks these features cost are worthwhile to four-wheelers.

Flight Plan
If you are going into a remote area, especially with a small group and especially if there is high potential of bad weather, leave the details of your trip with a responsible person or authority. Info would include where you’re headed, how many are in the group, their identities and when you are supposed to be back. Include contact information for the proper authorities for that person to notify if you don’t make it back. Don’t forget to let that person know when you’re back. Cell phones are great for checking in.

Gear
With weather forecasts not being 100 percent accurate, despite all your precautions you may get caught and you should be prepared with some common sense supplies. At the cusp of the season changes, when weather is the most unpredictable, is the time when the greatest precautions need to be taken. Clothing appropriate to the most likely weather change is always desirable. That could mean anything from some simple rain gear and a warmer jacket to serious cold weather gear if warranted. Check out the short lists in the nearby sidebar.

When You’re Caught By the Gale
Ok, so you’ve been busted by the weather — perhaps despite your best efforts, or perhaps by your lack of effort. What then? Step one is to determine if you are in a life or health threatening situation or not. Sometimes bad weather is merely inconvenient. The scary times come when there is potential of getting stranded in a remote area. That may not be too terrible unless the weather also poses a health hazard.

If you get hit with a potentially bad weather situation in a remote location, the safest step often is to take the fastest route the hell outta Dodge. Don’t wait until things get really bad to make the decision. Get out while the roads are still passable by the most direct and least dangerous route. Sometimes all you really need to do is get to a less remote location to wait out the worst of the storm. If it fades quickly, you can always go back and resume the balance of the ‘wheeling activities.

Deteriorating weather conditions may add a vehicular danger to the run. That could be slippery trail conditions, which could result in getting stuck or an accident, or lack of visibility which may lead to getting lost as well as making it hard to read lines on the trail. If one of your group gets stuck or damaged, and it’s not a quick recovery or repair, you’ll be faced with a tough decision. Do you spend the time needed to get the rig going, and perhaps risk getting the whole group stranded, or do you load up the occupants of the stuck rig and continue on to safe ground? Make the right decision. It may not be a popular one with the owner of the stuck rig.

If the situation gets too hairy to continue, find the most sheltered spot nearby. It’s probably better to stop before you get royally stuck. You’ll need mobility when the storm passes. Take a moment to think. Try your cell phone and your radios to see if you have contact with civilization and possible help. Even if your situation hasn’t reached the an emergency level, it might be wise to contact the local rescue agency, inform them of your position and make a plan to check in at regular intervals, or when you return to a totally safe area. Take stock of your emergency supplies, just in case. Look at the maps to plan a way out if and when the weather clears. Don’t waste your fuel idling, you may need it later. Plus there’s a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning if snow is building up around the vehicle. If it’s particularly cold, run the engine for about 10 or 15 minutes every hour if you must.

The Top Five Situations
Here are five scenarios where people are often caught. Yours truly has the T-shirt for some of them. Ahem! Just plant the situations in the back of your head for future use.

Snow and Ice- The most obvious life threatening weather hazard is snow. Your four-by is not invincible. In reality, it may not take any more than a foot of snow to completely stop your rig. Make your decisions based on these facts. Do you really want to head up hill into deeper snow and worse weather?

Rain, Mud and Rivers- Rain can turn a road into a muddy quagmire and your rig will sooner or later meet a mudhole it can’t cross or a hill it can’t climb. That may leave you struck in the middle of a mudhole, or in a gully you can’t climb out of, all in a driving rain. Fun! Rain can also flood a creek. It might have been an easy crossing in the morning but on the way out it may be a raging torrent that leaves you stranded on the “wrong” side of the creek. Deep, fast moving water is dangerous so make a very well informed decision before electing to cross.

Drowning in the Desert- One of the forgotten hazards of deserts are flash floods. Rain, even many miles away, can turn a mild mannered, totally dry wash into a raging torrent in just minutes. If it’s raining, stay outta the washes. If you are in a potentially rainy period of the season and you are traversing a wash, always be on the lookout for escape routes, whether by vehicle or on foot. Don’t be afraid to abandon the vehicles if you must.

Zapped- Lightning storms can be very hazardous. The safest place is inside your vehicle where you are insulated by the tires. Lightning looks for the highest path to ground. That could even be some little 5’6” person! Generally, don’t park under the only tall thing (tree) nearby. If it’s hit, it may fall apart and crush your rig. In a forest, the odds are better that you won’t park under the one tree that gets hit.

Hot Tamale- Extreme heat is very predicable but often underestimated. Grinding along a tough trail at a slow speed may overheat your rig. Overheat it badly enough and you are left to broil in the sun. If you are caught in the heat, remember your rig is the way out of the heat. If your rig is consistently running too hot early in the day, it will get worse as the day wears on. Think about turning back. Don’t run the AC while the rig is running hot. If you have an automatic, it can add to the cooling load. Running in a low gear and keeping the engine revved a bit will help keep your rig cool. This does many things, starting with getting the torque converter out of it’s major slipping, heat producing point and closer to being locked up. It also runs the fan faster as well as the water pump. Running the heater will add a bit of extra cooling capacity as well. People in open topped rigs sometimes forget the agony of baked brains and sunburn out in the desert. At least carry the bikini top.

Judgement
Yes, sometimes storms are just little blips that add a little spice to the ride. Other times, they are way more. Whether to advance in the hopes of clearing weather or to retreat is a judgment call the skipper will have to make. If the decision is made to continue in spite of the weather, hopefully the decision is based on local knowledge of the weather patterns, weather forecasts or other concrete information, and not just a flip-o-the-coin.