I am also living in the tornado alley. Sometimes I will not ride if the weather forecast calls for strong winds,drenching downpours, tornadoes or oversized hail. On Friday 4/06 we had bad winds and hail. I just made it home with the bike before the 3" diameter hail balls came falling from the sky. I was really lucky. Although wearing a helmet I do not want to get hit by one of those. One week later we had similar forecast I decided to drive by car. We did not get hail but a few miles north they did. One never knows where the hail might be worst. And 40 mph wind gusts are no fun either with a bike that has a fairing attached.