The Tent Demise

120 MPH Winds

I built the deck to withstand 100+ mph with about a 10% factor…winds have NEVER been reported above 110 mph on the ridge tops in this area. The short story is that I was inside the tent when this happened…about 1:00 am this past Sunday morning. The first picture was taken at first light on Sunday and the other present a pictorial of what happened the next 24 hours…

On Saturday night a neighbor with a digital wind meter reported that winds were in excess of 120 mph with sustained gusts for several minutes. This thrust, accompanied with very heavy rains (12″ in 72 hours) continued nonstop and thus I could not check the deck’s storm wall to see how it was doing). The tent was actually withstanding the wind force quite well since it was securely attached to the deck’s main girders. Ironically, the storm wall was probably the main factor in the uplifting of the deck.

I have since learned from the national weather service that we had a funnel cloud approach our area shortly before the deck wall uplifted, and also that a tornado, which had taken out a large section of a small town about 15 miles away, occurred about the same time. Put simply, the extreme pressure of a funnel cloud comes from multiple directions, thus the tremendous force of the wind that was used to escaping out the back of the deck had no where to go but up! I am now back in my “temporary quarters” and since the foundation is secure, I will rebuild and salvage the tent for other purposes. I am destined to live on this ridge-top!