Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkofSJC
Wow, W. Mark ~ Your report was far more information than I had hoped for! Through your experience (scary though it was), I have a much better idea of what my personal level of comfort/safety is when dealing with wind. While infrequent, there are days we get very heavy wind (Santa Ana Winds are forecast today, in fact) and I was never sure what the effects would be. And I hate gambling with my family or a coach!
Mark
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Please don't take my blatherings as gospil... especially when family is involved (a coach is just a coach).
Driving in the wind is very subjective. First: wind force is logrithimic... a 100 mph wind has roughly 16 times the energy as a 25 mph wind. If I did my math correctly, a 40 some-odd foot Newell sustains approx. 14,000 lbs of side force in a static 100mph side-wind. I'll suggest that getting smacked up along side your coach on an LA freeway with 14,000 lbs of force is nothing to take lightly.
I've driven a variety of rigs in the LA area during Santa Anna wind episodes... and seemingly to me, Santa Anna winds generally blow up the canyons... and the busy roads generally go either up or down the canyons. Face or tail to the wind... not such a problem as sideways to the wind.
My experience on a basically deserted WY freeway during high winds could be considerably different than trying to negoiate an LA freeway.