View Full Version : Very Bad Weather Last night
Wise Old Owl
07-23-2008, 06:08
Last night the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, Pennsylvania, & all of trail in NJ got pounded with severe rain and lightening. It started after midnight and continued to the early morning. A very bad night for anyone that didn't use the shelters.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/weat.jpg
Lone Wolf
07-23-2008, 06:11
typical july weather. great fun in a tent if you have it set up right
SGT Rock
07-23-2008, 06:16
We got some too here last night - it would have been a fun night up on the AT.
Wise Old Owl
07-23-2008, 06:19
It was the noise! I had loads of ground "earth rattling" strikes around the house all night, one of the backyard trees is missing (70ft) I can only surmise it fell over in the woods. I didn't get a wink of sleep
Pedaling Fool
07-23-2008, 09:56
We here in N. Florida got hit really hard by thunderstorms last night ~1700 (5pm) and it lasted about an hour. Got caught out in it during my run. It's been pretty wet here in Florida lately.
Blissful
07-23-2008, 11:15
Shelters aren't always the best thing either though. Rain with a driving wind can soak you. A good tent can work well. Best thing is to adjust your day and be at a hostel if you know bad weather is projected, but that's tough too. That's why I ask day hikers if they heard the weather forecast.
kayak karl
07-23-2008, 11:44
Last night the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, Pennsylvania, & all of trail in NJ got pounded with severe rain and lightening. It started after midnight and continued to the early morning. A very bad night for anyone that didn't use the shelters.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg275/MarkSwarbrick/weat.jpg
was in my hammock for 3 hours of it. testing out new JFB tarp worked great.
Fat Man Walking
07-23-2008, 16:19
Well, guess that answers my questions about water between Bearwallow Gap and Waynesboro.
Heading out in the morning. I am about to explode!!!
dessertrat
07-23-2008, 16:43
typical july weather. great fun in a tent if you have it set up right
Agreed. I would love to have some good wind and rain if I had my North Face tent along with me.
Homer&Marje
07-23-2008, 16:45
I'm leaving for Franconia in 2 hours and sitting here in southern mass with tornado warnings, Thunderstorms just ripped us a new one some wicked street floods right now... should be a pleasant drive. Happy Rain Trails
hopefulhiker
07-23-2008, 17:56
Lost a couple of trees last night, One fell on my Suburban, no significant damage though.
StubbleJumper
07-25-2008, 12:28
Has anybody ever had the experience of setting up their tent or hammock, going to bed, and then waking up in the morning with a blow-down in the middle of their campsite?
When I assess places to camp, I tend to look up at the trees to evaluate their integrity....are there any widow-makers, does the tree look like a candidate to blow over, etc? Sometimes you don't have much choice and you just have to set up beside a dubious tree.... :eek: I don't much worry about bears, but I find the idea of a tree coming down on my hammock in the middle of the night is a bit worrisome.
Those were some good storms the last few days, I sleep best during thunderstorms :)
Pedaling Fool
07-25-2008, 12:36
I can't tell you how many times I've been close to a tree falling in the woods, it happens a lot based on my observations. It's a very legitimate safety concern, one which is often overlooked.
A storm that hit June 10th while I was tenting on Silver Hill in CT was a life changing experience. Tenting in these types of storms is nerve racking, but I'm a stronger person because of it.
What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
Kirby
budforester
07-25-2008, 20:31
I saw the news that New Hampshire had storms yesterday. I hope the hikers were hunkered down safe.
karoberts
07-25-2008, 22:47
I was tenting near Kent and we got 4 inches of rain. It was the first time on the trail that my Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1 did not keep me dry. EVERYTHING got wet!
Pedaling Fool
07-27-2008, 16:03
We here in N. Florida got hit really hard by thunderstorms last night ~1700 (5pm) and it lasted about an hour. Got caught out in it during my run. It's been pretty wet here in Florida lately.
Damn, the rain just won't stop!!! I know I should be thankful we're not in a draught, but Damn, need a little sun, that's why I live in Florida.
Pedaling Fool
07-28-2008, 15:52
Damn, the rain just won't stop!!! I know I should be thankful we're not in a draught, but Damn, need a little sun, that's why I live in Florida.
Fooking rain!!!
TIDE-HSV
07-28-2008, 17:45
It's surprising what a tent can stand. I got caught out in a hail storm in the Wind Rivers on my honeymoon back in the mid-80s. I put on a good front for my wife (we were 17.5 miles from the nearest human), but I was worried. The tent shed it without a complaint and I used the ice to cool a brook trout I'd just caught. It was neat, looking across South Fork Lakes at Lizard Head glacier, lying on our stomachs, with what looked like popcorn jumping up from the grass. OTOH, I've also spent some nights and days of terror...
peakbagger
07-28-2008, 19:56
The gypsy moths have made it interesting in southern New England, They frequently kill the tops of large hardwoods, leaving them to fall down eventually a few years later during a wind storm. One of the new tent sites in Mass near sages ravine was built in an oak forest with dispersed tent sites. Real nice looking until I looked up and realized that almost all the crowns of the trees were dead.
Pedaling Fool
07-29-2008, 14:17
Fooking rain!!!
More rain :datz
Wise Old Owl
07-29-2008, 14:32
The gypsy moths have made it interesting in southern New England, They frequently kill the tops of large hardwoods, leaving them to fall down eventually a few years later during a wind storm. One of the new tent sites in Mass near sages ravine was built in an oak forest with dispersed tent sites. Real nice looking until I looked up and realized that almost all the crowns of the trees were dead.
Couple that with the initial blow of wind of a storm and wow it's raining branches & widowmakers.
Wise Old Owl
07-30-2008, 18:04
Unfortunately the local Philadelphia is overrating the weather even tonight they are calling for pop up thunderstorms, but the temps won't bear it out, only a few will get wet (briefly)
Bare Bear
07-30-2008, 18:56
On an island campout my tent was the only one standing the next morning after a front blew thru at 55 mph winds. I had buried the stakes under a foot of sand in 'bags' of sand that held pretty good. I hope to never have to weather that bad on the Trail. Worst was one night on Orchard but only maybe 35 mph winds/rain/ a little snow the next morning which helped me hike really fast to stay warm.
Pedaling Fool
07-31-2008, 10:39
More rain :datz
Rain, rain go away...?? How's the rest of that song go?
Damn rain!
mister krabs
07-31-2008, 14:37
Rain, rain go away...?? How's the rest of that song go?
...to Georgia.
Pedaling Fool
07-31-2008, 15:24
...to Georgia.
Wish I could, maybe one day, with further technological improvemetns, we'll be able to correct nature's mistakes by controlling the weather.
http://weatherwars.info/