I'm not from the US though.SaturnGrl wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:06 pmActually, the average wind speed for a thunder storm is around 32 kilometers per hour, or 20 miles per hour. If a thunderstorm advances to "severe", the winds can get up to 50 kilometers per hour, or 31 miles per hour. And its still not recommended to travel via bike, car, or truck in this kind of weather if you have a choice.Survivor11 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:38 pmI think you're overestimating wind strength.SaturnGrl wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 9:17 pm
Well, most commercial bikes have a top speed of 16 mph, and that's with a rider in peak condition. Wind, however is an opposing force, and even at 20 MPH, it can blow cars and trucks off course, and Semi-trucks have a risk of toppling over if the wind is strong enough. 50 MPH is very high, and dangerous to drive in for most vehicles.
50mph averages to 90km/h which is wind strength in a common storm.
50 is still significantly higher than a severe thunderstorm. Its actually within range of a small tornado, and those can pick up and toss cars around with little effort. According to the F-Scale ranges:
F0: 40 to 72 mph.
F1: 73 to 112 mph.
F2: 113 to 157 mph.
F3: 158 to 206 mph.
F4: 207 to 260 mph.
F5: 261 to 318 mph.
F6: 319 to 379 mph.
We get a good share of tornadoes out here, rarely do we see any F5 or the unicorn F6. And I highly doublt you would ride your bike very well in that kind of wind.
Luckilly, we are a landlocked state, and don't have to worry about hurricanes and typhoons which have a maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or faster. :P
We get strong wind currents.
And hurricanes are in the 100s of km/h speeds and tornadoes are even stronger so this is strange.
We get (officially) recorded speeds of 80-90km/h (~50mph) in winter on just regular windy days.
So this is really strange.
But it's an interesting debate.
It's important to note that winds that fast only become tornadoes if the required air pockets are present.
Otherwise, in contrast to the speed a moving car goes at, it does nothing.
And although they are annoying to travel through, notably due to the effort and balance required to not fall over, they are entirely navigable.
Also, I'm pretty sure F0 tornadoes can't pick up cars. Maybe small objects but not cars.
I say this because we have had relatively weak tornado columns before in my area, but all they did was rattle your windows, throw outdoor plastic chairs around, hurl up a ton of leaves in the air and then leave, usually everything stays in your backyard, although the occasional ball from the neighbours will stay.
And for the record, bikes with a rider in peak condition go faster than 16mph.
Just in the tour de France they can go upwards of 25mph.