Windy Conditions

[Calisand]

Hi, I’m currently at a campsite in Sennen, Cornwall and the wind is gusting at about 30-40 mph and the roof canvass is flapping a bit. The owners manual says to close pop up roof in strong winds. Apart from a noisy night if we keep roof up is it designed to open ok with this type of windspeed? I’m tempted to close roof to get a good nights sleep on lower bed but worried about at catching bellows in scissors with wind so strong. Any advice from experienced Cali owners would be appreciated.

 

[GrannyJen]

30-40mph is ok.

I've been out at sustained winds a bit above that and survived, a restless night to say the least though!

I would check the weather forecast. There are stormy conditions predicted but that is for further North, and if you do decide to lower, window open lee side, not wind side, and make eyeball checks.

 

[Sad]

Can you park with the rear of the Cali pointing into the prevailing wind?

 

[Calisand]

Thanks Granny Jen and Sad. I decided to lower roof (very cautiously with frequent checks and pulling in by hand) and I think all ok. Although I’m sure all would have been ok with roof up I will sleep easier knowing the roofs down safely!

 

[GrannyJen]

Thanks Granny Jen and Sad. I decided to lower roof (very cautiously with frequent checks and pulling in by hand) and I think all ok. Although I’m sure all would have been ok with roof up I will sleep easier knowing the roofs down safely!

Better safe than sorry. Plenty of time to get used to being in windy conditions and finding out just what the Cali can and cannot take. The roof is robust, often more robust than my nerves

 

[Hotel California]

The roof can stand pretty heavy winds but you won't get much sleep due the canvas flapping and on the top bed the movement on the verhicle is very noticable.
Heavy winds , sleep downstaires if possible ....

 

[WelshGas]

I work on the premise - If I ask the question then I lower the roof for my piece of mind.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

That pretty strong winds...the forecast from the MET office is 26 mph gusts so I wonder if it just feels worse owing to not being used to it? Either way, down is better.

 

[Calisand]

Oh my goodness I feel so fortunate today. After a comfortable night sleeping downstairs with the van swaying in the wind ( if felt a lot stronger than the forecast of 26mph) I awoke this morning to see another Cali owner who had left the roof up overnight driving away today with a very badly buckled roof that was almost hanging off. I felt so awful for him (and I sincerely mean that). That image will stay with me and as a number of you have said, if you are concerned lower the roof. Once again the advice on this site has proved invaluable to this newbie.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Oh dear,
You done the wise thing!! also sounds like the forecast I saw may have been wrong.

 

[Wongo]

You should always be cautious, it’s expensive kit to damage.
Saying that I kerbed one my alloys driving out of the dealers at pick up!
Batten down the hatches. Gusts can often be 50% above tbe forecast wind.

 

[Velma's Dad]

In UK I've stopped using the BBC Weather app and switched to Met Office. Someone I know who works in the met world told me that the BBC app now uses the Meteo forecast service and since UK is on the edge of the Meteo model, the app forecasts are much less reliable than before.

Mrs VD told me there's been something on the news about that too. (But as she seems to make the weather in our household, I've never known why she needs an app...)

But also, yes, forecast wind speeds are (a) average sustained speeds, not gusts, and (b) the forecasts are probabilistic so subject to a lot of variation in how they turn out.

[EDIT] Just spotted that 2020 Freedom was referring to the Met Office FC. So I guess that just shows none of them should be relied on.

 

[bigmac77]

Agree with you @Velma's Dad the BBC Meteogroup forecast it very unreliable for our particular location in the UK (north west Wales) so I have deleted the app from my phone any now use the Met Office app instead much more accurate.

With regard to dropping the roof in high wind we travel as a family of four so it’s cross your fingers and put in the ear plugs for us.

 

[Elmo3]

I think anyone out and about in their Cali tonight should drop the roof, particularly the North and Scotland. Looking like a gusty one!

 

[Ocean Spirit]

[EDIT] Just spotted that 2020 Freedom was referring to the Met Office FC. So I guess that just shows none of them should be relied on.

Indeed and oddly enough someone told me that BBC had changed but was better for it who knows???

 

[Mr & Mrs B]

Earlier this year we had a very sleepless night with the wind blowing very strong. We had pitched with the gentle wind blowing to the rear of Cali but it changed direction and strength overnight. We'd also got the Cali topper on which flapped a lot, even though it was secure. We got the roof down okay the next morning - we figured it would be best to sit out the wind when it was dark and get the roof down in daylight when we could see what we were doing. It came down slowly with Mr B checking the inside and me peeking under the Cali topper to ensure nothing pinching. Lesson learnt - if it starts to get stronger in the evening, the room comes down!

 

[Hotel California]

Imo. having a roof topper on in windy conditions is a plus as the roof is smoother all arround as without a topper the wind catches under the elevating part pulling it up.

 

[andyinluton]

"the BBC Meteogroup forecast it very unreliable for our particular location in the UK (north west Wales) so I have deleted the app from my phone any now use the Met Office app instead much more accurate."


I seem to remember seeing somewhere that if you forecast that the weather tommorow would be the same as today every evening. You would be right more times than the bbc weather forecast.

 

[ejmoore]

We've been testing the roof in Skye & Lewis recently -very windy! We always sleep up top. Actually we found things worse with the roof topper (Calicap Mutze) on, as it flaps like crazy & you can't take the roof down in the night if it gets too bad. We always make sure the back of the van is facing into the wind. But I keep waking up with a mental image of the roof blowing off leaving us in the bed clutching the duvet.