Weirdest weather phenom encountered

[otrfjr]

I didn't know they make snow tires for bikes (excepting those really cool ice racing tires).

 

[Bounce]

Several years ago riding from Mesquite NV to Grand Junction CO I encountered a "standing tornado"....at least that's what it looked like. It was a clear day with no clouds anywhere. Hot as hell, about halfway thru Utah. Up in the distance I could see a brown line extending from the ground to the sky. I knew it was a "dust devil" but I didn't know how big it was. As I got closer, the thing never moved. It took me about five minutes of riding at 80mph before I was alongside it. This thing was HUGE! It must have been 100-150'' across and maybe 700-900' high. I wish I had stopped and pulled out my camera but I was in a hurry. I watched it in my rear view mirror until I was too far away. It never moved.

during one Waltz Across Texas rally, i was heading toward el paso along US90 (n-bound toward Valentine). there must have been 6 or more of those beasts (huge dust devils). you could see them for miles and they milled about for the entire time we approached. they were slowly closing on the highway and some riders ahead of my actually passed through one. i varried my speed and threaded the needle through them. but that was some odd/crazy business! the difference for me was that it was "viewed" weather and not something i passed through like the stuff above (or punching through a dry line from the hot side while out in a western state - pretty exciting stuff).

 

[BobbyBlue]

Same as bounce, I encountered a ball or microburst...i leaned so hard i touched the right feeler down and did my best not to get blown into traffic...happened less than 10 miles from home ! and hail...it hurts !!

Bobby

 

[painman]

Ran into a very similar storm riding solo just west of Austin Nevada on hwy. 50 on the way to WFO-6. It was about 5 in the evening and it started rainging so hard the road turned to white and the roadway or any markers were no longer visable and it seemed like it was in the middle of night it was so dark. In the desert it is hard to tell where the road is going at all when this happens. Found out my winter Joe Rocket riding gear is only semi-rain-proof and the stock windshield offered some protection. The temp dropped from 88 degrees to 61 degrees in 5 minutes with ball lightning popping nearby. I heard similar stories from other riders going to WFO and someone said at the Marriott in Park City the lower level bar/resturant and the swiming pool was experiencing flooding. This was a first for the hotel there. Hey, where else can you have fun like that but on the FJR? :blink: :blink: It's a trip I will never forget and many personal goals were accomplished during that ride. It was great. Painman. <><

 

[daviddowns2000]

One time it was raining cats and dogs.

 

[boardsNbikes]

I-40 west of Flagstaff, AZ. I saw four ugly thunder cells to the southwest, amidst the mesas. It was the afternoon but it looked like midnight. Having nowhere to hide in that section of the interstate (no shelter) I chose to try to outrun the cells. I bumped up the FJR to 115mph.

I left the four thunder cells behind me and to the south when I-40 made a 90 degree turn south around a large mesa. That's when I saw a fifth thunder cell about a minute ahead. My first thought: "****!" My second thought: "Oh, it can't be that bad." Yes, I'm an *****.

Traffic slowed and then we all hit the windshear front. Instantly, my bike was at 45 degrees. I fought to stay on the bike and what I thought was the interstate. I couldn't see the truck just in front of me and god only knows what the cars behind me could see of the FJR's enormous lighting system. I could only describe the rainfall as riding through a waterfall for 100 yards.

I chose to try to stay on the road, trusting the barely visible truck lights ahead of me, rather than pull over to the shoulder only to have some cage ***** behind me believe I was on the road and plow into into me. I won the gamble. After just a quarter mile, the rain was gone and everyone resumed their usual interstate speed of 90mph. :yahoo:

It was a very hot day and the experience was very, ah, refreshing

 

[Rogue]

I once saw what appeared to be drops of water falling from the sky!

 

[wheatonFJR]

yep. 25 degree temp swing, hail, crosswind gusts from hell...yep.

 

[Ric in Sac]

I was riding two-up heading northbound through southern Oregon. There were scattered thunderstorms around but I had been lucky missing them. I rounded a sweeper at 55 on drive pavement and as I came through the corner the road ahead was GONE! It was covered solid with hail. I puckered big time but fortunately the hail cover was in a straight tangent section after I got through the end of the curve. I was able to back off the throttle and muddle my way through very gingerly. Had the hail extended into the end of the curve I am not sure I would have been able to prevent a low-side.

T-storms have an updraft side (the front where the lightning is) and a downdraft side (where the hail and rain is). In between you often have a "wind shear" zone where the wind speeds and direction change very abruptly. This is also where you will find the "dust devils" and microbursts which can wreak havoc. Be careful out there when boomers are around!!

 

[S76]

I took a ride from CT to Deals Gap last summer when the bike was new. Rode the Blue Ridge all the way down and rode it again on the way home. On the way back, with "Severe Thunderstorms" predicted, I figured I would just ride it until the weather looked bad and get off the parkway and call it a day. About 16:00 it started to rain so I put on my gear and proceeded on, looking for the next place to get off and find a motel. As I rounded the next corner the road was covered with shredded leaves. Wet leaves. My initial thought was "Where is the chipper that blew all this debris on the road, and what a stupid thing to do?" Now at 15 MPH, driving through and inch of wet leaves I round the next corner and the leaves are mixed with white???? White what? Hail! Oh rats I am going to drop this new bike for sure. Then I came to an area where there weren't any trees near the road to provide the shredded leaves and it was pure hail on the road. About and inch thick. I thought it would be slushy but it wasn't. It was froze hard and the bike just rode on top of it, in the rain. First gear by now at 10 MPH with both legs extended to the side. The next town to get off was 10 miles ahead! After a mile or so I would break out and it would just be wet with leaves, and then back into the frozen hail. This went on for an hour until I got to a place to exit and find shelter. By the time I got to a hotel the bike and I were both covered with shredded leaves and soaked to the bone.

I have no idea how I managed to not drop the bike that afternoon.