A Big Storm Is Coming!
 

Tonight and tomorrow, we are to be hit with a rain storm which might bring lighting, high winds and heavy rain. I'm thinking about not riding tomorrow if the storm is as bad as they say it might be. Has anyone else skipped a day from riding their bike to work because of the weather?

Only if it's flat out dangerous. I draw the line at winds above 25 in a thunderstorm. Not that winds like that are unrideable, but when winds can gust 60+mph, I don't feel safe on the streets, or through the woods. Hail also sucks. But outside of really severe weather, I just grin and bear it. I'm planning on a wet rid tomorrow morning.

We were under a tornado warning this afternoon and it is believed a few set down in neighbouring areas... high winds, torrential rain, flooding, man hole covers blowing off, and hail.

We like to call this Wednesday.

If I had to be somewhere I would be driving or taking public transit and not cycling... more than anything the lack of visibility would be the biggest factor besides getting sucked up into a tornado and finding yourself in Oz.

Motorists also get a little nuts in extreme weather so they pose a greater risk.

Are you kidding? I watch the weather forecast like a hawk, & I pretty much draw the line between 30% & 40% chance of precipitation, especially thunderstorms. :eek:

Rainstorms here tend to be very localized in terms of severity and also tend to come up and dissipate quickly. Plain old rain can last all day.

Given the unpredictability and relatively short duration of thunderstorms I just ride and if worse comes to worse I might have to delay my return home until a storm blows over. It's been a rainy spring so far and it seems like I've gotten wet on at least half my rides.

of course. if there is a high chance of rain, i usually drive to work. getting soaked and having to change at work sucks. plus, your bags get wet, assuming you don't have a waterproof one or a rain cover (which don't always work).

riding in a t-storm seems like a stupid idea in general.

i check the weather every night before, and every morning when my alarm goes off. the morning check decides whether i hit the shower, or sleep for another 45 minutes.

even with studded snow tires, i'll get the car keys if there's freezing rain in the forecast. too unpredictable.

so far i've never had a problem with rain/wind.

I change at work regardless of whether it rains or not so for me that's not really an issue.

I also do my research before getting a new bag and I make sure it'll keep my stuff dry in a downpour. I carry a laptop back and forth to work. In 8 years of commuting in all kinds of weather I've never had problem with the things inside my bag getting wet.

Can't see where you're located, guessing SoCal ;)
If I did that I might get to ride a few days each year. Even the summers have been getting rained out here in Sweden the last few years :(

I'm seriously considering moving to the middle of the Sahara desert...

If there's a chance of anything above a light drizzle I wont ride, unless its a very short trip and I cant get there any other way, and certainly not in a thunderstorm.

Not that we get any worth mentioning these days, but I did have to go out today in a sharp shower, glad I can fit into my rainproof trousers again now:), to the doctors.

It dried up by the time I left there but when I finished shopping it rained again.

Tho I have been caught out by heavy rain, I would certainly think about it if I was at home when it starts.

ortlieb panniers will solve your bag issue.

Like others, I watch weather forecasts closely and plan my commutes accordingly. I don't mind light rain or showers that pass through quickly, but have no desire to bike commute in pouring rain or severe weather. If it's raining when I get up in the morning and the radar indicates that it will continue through my commute, I hit the snooze on my alarm and get another hour of sleep and drive to work. If the weather is nice in the morning, I usually drive unless forecasts predict a high probability (50% or more) of afternoon showers. Often I can avoid afternoon storms by leaving work a little early or later than usual, but I don't fool around with severe weather.

For example, today a line of severe storms called a "derecho" is supposed to hit our area sometime between 4-7 pm, with heavy rain, hail and high winds. I'm not going to mess around with that. My afternoon commute takes about 1:15 hours and it would be foolish to expose myself to that sort of risk in heavy rush hour traffic. However, if forecasters had called for the usual afternoon "popcorn" showers, I probably would have ridden and timed my departure to avoid to showers that developed.

My tolerance for rain goes up if we've had a lot of it because I get frustrated going for very long without riding. So I'm willing to put up with getting wet if I haven't been able to ride much for various reasons. However, if I have ridden 10 days straight and forecasters are calling for a 50% chance of rain the next day, I'll consider it good fortune and take a rest day.

I don't like riding in rain, but I do.
Todays forecast is seriously sketchy. Calling for nasty winds and severe rain. I biked into work , no problem. Going home**********

I am in the Mid Atlantic area. Apparently this storm has Derecho like winds which will make for an interesting commute. Nasty weather gives me more to talk about at the pubs:)....if I make it.

Mid Atlantic!!?? What kind of bike to you ride?

http://tinyurl.com/nb8su4o
:lol:

I don't ride when a tropical storm hits. The streets go underwater plus the wind and tornado warnings, but I am more concerned with the motorists who have to take pictures/videos of water lapping over their hood or the rooster tail they throw up on pedestrians. They just don't pay attention.

I commute to work when I can because its fun and good for me. It is not a necessity so yes, absolutely, I cancel alot of rides due to weather. Believe it or not, I ride more in the winter because I don't have to deal with heavy rains and thunderstorms. Cold, ice and snow is no problem. Heavy rain, lightning, or hot and humid stops me.

It's one thing to ride in heavy rain even windy with storms forecast all day. But you don't want to mess around with severe thunderstorms and especially with a dericho setting up. I'd give it a pass, or at least watch the radar like a hawk and take no chance at all of being out in that kind of wind.

I trailed after a small but vicious cell on my commute last friday, forest trail. If anyone had been riding in one particular one mile stretch during the 10 or 15 minutes when it went through, I do not think they would have survived. It can get really bad, really fast.

Around here, big rainstorms bring massive traffic jams. That's why I'm particularly glad I have my bike with me. Also, in the event of widespread downed trees and flooding, a car is a prison.

We just don't get extreme weather here in Toronto that stops me from riding my bike. For the winter months I have a dedicated bike with studded tires and disks. For the other three seasons, fenders, Shower Pass Elite rain jacket, helmet rain cover and the thoughts that I am still going to get soaked. For this reason I keep extra clothes at work. Rain would never stop me from riding.

I took a chance with a >50% chance of thunderstorm, trying to go up Gatineau Park. Learnt my lesson pretty quickly. It poured cats and dogs, which end up drowning my BlackBerry Z10 (there's water damage in the screen, thankfully still works), and there was no cover to wait it out, so I descended, and then the thunder rolled in.

I'd say I wasn't comfortable being soaked and then hearing the thunder.

If it's higher than a 20% chance of showers here, I don't ride. I have rain gear, and I don't mind the wind/rain/lightning/thunder, but one thing I learned about South Carolina as a delivery driver was that car drivers here absolutely lose their minds when it rains. The vast majority of them don't think "Conditions are good for hydroplaning/accidents, so I'd better slow down"...they think "I'd better get home and get out of this rain as fast as physically possible!"...add that with the fact that if the rain's heavy enough my visibility drops significantly, and sorry...I'll be sitting this one out. If my route were less-populated with drivers, I'd probably throw on a raincoat, waterproof my bags, man up and simply dry my bike out when I get to work/get back home later. To all those who commute rain or shine (and especially those living car-free), my hat (or helmet) is off to you!

I've ridden through all levels of t-storm severity and never thought to myself that I was in an unacceptably risky situation. I admit, intensely loud thunder when you're not warned by seeing the lightning makes you jump a little bit (maybe a lot), and hail does suck. But crazy sideways rain just makes me laugh to myself thinking "is this stupid?, nah it's fun!". Waterproof panniers that you have trust in keep you from worrying about your stuff. Always changing clothes at work anyway means who cares if I'm soaked. I think people get a little too worked up about riding in rain.

Probably a lot depends on what part of the world you live in and the kind of commute you have. Different places experience different frequencies and severities of storms. I can be home in 25 minutes in the summer, - faster if motivated. I'm not going to be out in the rain for an hour or more. Further a good chunk of my commute can be on bike paths if I choose so there's only a few places I really need to worry about car traffic much.

And since my commute is relatively quick I can time it to avoid the really nasty stuff. I'll ride when there's thunder and lightning, but not when it's not right on top of me (if I can avoid it). And as I've mentioned before, the intense storms tend to pass by quickly. Another cell maybe on the way but I can get home in between. We live just North of what's normally considered tornado alley and experience a similar storm pattern. Rising heat throughout the day makes the atmosphere unstable and storms can crop up. So storms tend to happen in the afternoon and evening more so than in the morning.

The thing is that you don't know. You can get a forecast that says an 80% chance of thunderstorms. It'll be sunny in the morning, maybe pour at 3:00 and be fine at 5:30. Or start to cloud up at 5:30 and not rain until 6:00.

This spring/early summer has been very unusual, more like the PNW. It's been raining and cloudy a lot. Not much thunder and lightning or high winds, just lots of rain.

Things like lighting, torrential down pour that reduces visibility to zero and down trees from high wind do get me work up for a 30 miles commute each way. But I'm sure you have no problem.