[TowerTalk] Wind, storms, etc.

Robert Shohet kq2m@mags.net
Tue, 11 Sep 2001 12:08:04 -0400


Tnx for this info Steve.  Of course, almost anyone on the East Coast, as a
precaution, should erect and guy a tower for a Hurricane direct hit even if
the windspeed rating suggests otherwise.  Clearly far inland locations are
more likely to experience Tornados than Hurricanes, but rarely does even an
F1 Tornado have accompanying winds less than 90 - 100 mph.

Given that we have had many 100 years storms in the past 10 years and that
many serious hams tend to live on or near hilltop locations (where the wind
and localized storms tend to be considerably worse), it is almost a proverb
how essential it is to build and prepare for MUCH stronger winds.  Of course
Tornados and Ice Storms don't respect windspeed ratings and are additional
reasons why we should build and overbuild our installations.  IMO, you can't
spend enough time or money to do the job right.

73

Bob KQ2M

>     Actually if you're in Fairfield county (per my old CB info), the
> windspeed rating is 85 MPH plus you've got a Note 2 condition: "County is
> within 100 miles from hurricane oceanline. Tabulated values of basic wind
> speed have been adjusted in accordance with ASCE 7-88 to obtain 50-year
> recurrence intervals".  If you hadn't have done some over-building and
> over-engineering, you might have had some real problems.



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