More Texas fun

[IanC]

Have you ever tried tying a rug over your solar panels in high winds while getting beaned with hail?  Tornado warnings in Abilene, but WTH, I'm 45 miles from there - couldn't affect me, right?  And another thing, when the radio says "find shelter in a basement", does crawling under the trailer count?  LOL

 

[jonsun]

get out of tornado alley in march-june

 

[Dennis]

You're in the crosshairs there, Ian. Severe stuff is developing there and heading E/NE. A basement would be nice at times for sure. Heard there was a fatal accident earlier involving storm chasers. Take care.

 

[Ballenxj]

Have you ever tried tying a rug over your solar panels in high winds while getting beaned with hail?  Tornado warnings in Abilene, but WTH, I'm 45 miles from there - couldn't affect me, right?  And another thing, when the radio says "find shelter in a basement", does crawling under the trailer count?  LOL

That's some pretty good sized hail in your hand there.

 

[user 37446]

That Dallas and Denton TX baseball sized hail from earlier this week wouldn't have been any fun either.  Wonder if a glass framed solar panel lying flat on the roof would have cracked... Not wanting to find out either.

 

[DannyB1954]

Any road over passes near you? I wouldn't trust parking under a tree for shelter, too many things could fall on you, (including the tree).

 

[IanC]

That Dallas and Denton TX baseball sized hail from earlier this week wouldn't have been any fun either.  Wonder if a glass framed solar panel lying flat on the roof would have cracked... Not wanting to find out either.

I'm glad I decided to stop over in Sweetwater, which is just the edge of the storm area.  My next spot is just south of Fort Worth (I was going to go straight there initially) - right in the path of the weather. Several tornadoes have touched down already. Amazing how fast it comes on.  I had just come back from the store and it was sunny and clear and then boom! Supposed to be severe thunderstorms though 1am and then sunny again tomorrow.

Wind picking back up as we speak.

I wonder how much those panels can take. Imagine a house with a roof covered in solar and I wonder if insurance covers those.

 

[IanC]

Any road over passes near you? I wouldn't trust parking under a tree for shelter, too many things could fall on you, (including the tree).

Nope, I'm in a pretty open grassy field spotted with mesquite, and it's out in the boonies. The town just came through and picked up all the branches from the last wind storm that came through.

 

[cyndi]

Take good care and keep us updated!

 

[ArtW]

man that's some good sized hail

 

[Dennis]

Man! I hope everyone has some shelter out there. Tornado warning boxes covering the whole county you are in.

 

[IanC]

Man!  I hope everyone has some shelter out there. Tornado warning boxes covering the whole county you are in.

Damn, that was a trip. When the wind picked up it pretty much took everything in the park that wasn't bolted down - trash barrels and branches that broke loose across the park.  I had a six foot folding table and a couple of folding chairs that are gone.  There are two other RVs here and I saw all of one guy's stuff blowing across the field. By the light of the lightening I can see at least one tree down.  I took the dog and the cat into the truck and parked alongside the restroom building which blocked the worst of the wind.  I expected to see the trailer blown over, but all is well. I wouldn't be surprised if a tornado touched down someplace close to here - that's how strong the wind was. Now it's just rain and some lightening.  That was some scary ****.

 

[Ballenxj]

  I expected to see the trailer blown over, but all is well. I wouldn't be surprised if a tornado touched down someplace close to here - that's how strong the wind was. Now it's just rain and some lightening.  That was some scary ****.

Glad to hear everything is OK now, and yeah, that "would" be some scary ****.

 

[Dennis]

I imagine it was! Usually when things heat up out west along a dry line and start heading east I keep an eye on the radar. For a while there Nolan county was completely covered in red tornado warning boxes. Glad you made this one. Got at least two more full months of potential severe weather coming up.

 

[Gary68]

i told ya to keep heading west,but nooooo,instead of posting "yosemite is really cool" we get "texas sucks" who would of thunk it

time to keep that radio to the weather report and plan your escape,that stuffs not to be taken lightly

 

[rvpopeye]

I'm with Gary on this , go west , or northwest.
The panels are designed to handle hail but they don't say how BIG !

 

[Gunny]

They showed several people holding softball size hail, the glass companies are doing a brisk business.

Rob

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I'm with Gary on this , go west , or northwest.
The panels are designed to handle hail but they don't say how BIG !

I believe the standard is 1" hail at 50 mph.  Some companies claim they exceed that standard by quite a bit.  There is a short video at this site showing their panels resisting quite a bit more:

http://renewableenergysolar.net/can-my-solar-panels-withstand-a-hail-storm/

 

[Ballenxj]

I believe the standard is 1" hail at 50 mph.  Some companies claim they exceed that standard by quite a bit.  There is a short video at this site showing their panels resisting quite a bit more:

http://renewableenergysolar.net/can-my-solar-panels-withstand-a-hail-storm/

WOW! Those panels are tougher than I would have thought? Impressive!

 

[johnny b]

Three stormchasers killed in Spur, TX....

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/28/three-storm-chasers-killed-in-west-texas-car-crash.html