kvragu wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 11:02 am
I have a bit of a fear of thunderstorms, which I discovered on my (road) touring around Europe
I wish I was more like that.
I seem to function the other way round and keep telling myself it'll be alright, even whilst I'm getting hit by hail, smell ozone in the air and hear fizzles across the air after the lightning strikes close enough, that my ears ring for 2 days. Disclaimer: I live in Switzerland. This was last Tuesday;
https://www.srf.ch/meteo/meteo-stories/ ... -schiessen, whilst we often get such storms, I always really enjoy them (especially when in a safe spot).
This was 2 years ago where I spend half of the week (work);
https://www.sturmarchiv.ch/index.php?ti ... olhusen_LU.
I try to be prepared. This means I check the forecasts of different sources, which give forecasts based on different models. I constantly keep an eye on the forecasts and how the weather effectively develops, not just a day or two prior a trip. This feeds my experience and judgement for when it counts.
This all comes from a viewpoint from Alpine mountainbiking;
June - August storms are common. Anything but a stable high pressure system and we get 2 - 4 afternoons/evening with storms per week. Outside these months heavy lightning is rather rare, so it's those months I pay special attention to those kind of storms.
Just yesterday I had to choose a different descent with more snow, but faster to get before the conditions change. Ride was from 2891 m.a.s.l. down to 595 m, I just felt a few large rain drops, but it was close. Would've been a ride(walk) in the storm, had I choosen one with the longer way down. It's always good to have options which allow for adjustment to stay safe(r).
If on a multiday trip and you don't want to give in (eg. change route) things are different (I don't recommend all of it)
So the good news for bikepackers is, we tend to be more mobile/faster than alpinists without wheels. I have almost always been able to outpace a storm on a bike. Like yesterday. Eg speed down the easiest way of a mountain. If you don't know/are sceptical about the descent (eg on the other side of the mountain), backtrack the path you came up. Try do be on the move towards a shelter before you're engulfed in fog. Once in fog, you can't tell what's happening around you.
Riding in torrential rain or hail with bad visibility, falling trees and branches, slippery surfaces and falling temperatures are issues to deal with. Hail can quickly become ankle deep on mountain paths. If you're as stupid as I am, you'll also have to be aware of rockfall, mudslides (given the terrain is steep).
Forests become dangerous because of all the breaking branches.
By all means try to be gone before you're engulfed by fog. Once in it you can't assess what the weather is doing and everything comes by surprise. I smelled burned fur close by when waiting for the worst to pull away on a mountainside a few years back - a cow was hit. Once I realised the distance between me and the lightning was big enough (this very individual), I sped down the mountain like an total imbecile. I crashed twice and was very lucky to not get injured. Mainly due to bad visibility, but riding as if it was okay and the sliding around on wet surfaces.
Try to get down/to shelter earlier. If you found shelter don't sit around waiting to find out if you should pull out your space blanked/bivybag. Get in right away. Relax. Wait. Eat. If the lightning is close, like <10 sec between flash and bang, get into the described position. Try to stay dry/sit on a object and keep your feet on a dry object too (which is almost impossible), hold feet together. If you have ear plugs, use them. It can be deafening loud.
Learn to tell the distance by counting seconds between lightning and thunder.
Everybody's different. I go by 10 seconds before I'm going into emergency mode. Which is actually asking for trouble. Lightings can easily travel 3 km or more.
30 sec. would be less stupid. Many say the weather changes fast in the mountains. In every mountainrange I've been the locals will always tell you "here it's different. It changes much faster" blahblahblah. I found the West coasts of any island in the North Atlantic to have even more dynamic weather.
Thunder doesn't come from nowhere (basically needs three main ingredients - learn about them from meteo books) and they need a bit of time to develop. Keep an eye on the development, especially wind direction. Check regularly, like at least every 15 min. Use the major wind direction (read out on clouds, not the direction of the ground) to your benefit.
If you decide to carry on in a scenario with thunderstorm potential remember sheltered spots and set turnaround points. You may get to a point where it's safer to carry on through. But try not to be that person in the first place.
When it has passed, it will be significantly colder, your track/trail/path may be covered in hail. Streams will be running down mountainsides which were dry before and rapidly increasing the size of any stream/river lower down. Even if you managed (magic?) to stay dry during th storm.
No matter how close and scared you were, how good your shelter was, you'll have lost a significant amount of time. Make sure you'll not run into trouble because of that (like riding difficult terrain in the dark with weak lights).
That's for bad storms. Most of the situations are easy going; ride, see what the weather is doing. It start raining, thunder's rolling in. You stop for a break. Drink, eat, the nasty part pulls away after 30 min and you ride on 35 min after you stopped, refuelled.