Road Tripping Through Bad Weather: Stories and Advice

Illustration courtesy of Thinkstock

We’ve come across our fair share of bad weather while road tripping — from tornadoes to hurricanes and even flash floods.

During our first road trip across the country, we were fairly worried about tornadoes while traveling through the Midwest. It was actually Toronto of all places where we encountered a tornado. We were staying with family in that city at the time and had made our way downtown for an afternoon of exploring. My cousin actually texted us about the tornado warning. We were able to take shelter in downtown Toronto and wait for the warning to pass. We now always have a few friends back home on tornado watch for us. 

While visiting family in Montreal we learned on the news that a hurricane was supposed to touch down in Nova Scotia the same time we were to arrive. We chose to spend a few extra days in Montreal waiting for the storm to pass. This took up a few of our road trip days, and we made to make a tighter schedule to make it back across the country in time, but it was worth avoiding the hurricane.

While road tripping through Illinois one summer, we learned of a flash flood warning in the Chicago area. We had stopped at a gas station along our route for some gas and snacks, we briefly heard of the flash flood warning on a TV in the gas station but didn’t think much of it.

When we arrived in Chicago it was pouring rain. Were from Vancouver so we weren't going to let a little rain stop us. We put on our rain gear and ran around Millennium Park and touring the town. We had a great time doing so, and eventually carried on with our road trip. We later learned the severity of flash floods and how dangerous they can be. 

Tips for Staying Safe While Road Tripping in Bad Weather:

Given the amount of bad weather that we’ve encountered over the years of road tripping, I figured I’d share some safety tips for you to consider while on your next road trip.

• Have several friends back home on weather watch for you. They can update you as needed while you road trip. Sometimes it’s hard for us to keep track of the weather while we’re out having fun, or there’s a storm the next town over and we haven’t arrived yet to discover this.

• Utilize Twitter for traffic and weather updates. Search for the towns in which you’re heading towards, that way you’ll know weather info before you reach that town.

• Travel with at least two days worth of food in case you get stuck somewhere or need to ride out a bad storm. 

• Travel with a blanket for cold nights. If you’re not one for sleeping in the car while road tripping, but you get stuck somewhere at least you’ll stay warm and have the essentials needed to get you through tough nights. 

What sort of safety precautions do you take while road tripping?