Too Windy To Survey

I always considered 23mph to be my maximum but I have gained about 10 pounds since then so I might could stretch that to about 26.
Cat 4? I would be in another state.

Wind is ever present in Okie-homie. You get use to leaning into it. I always joke and tell people the wind quit blowing once...and we all fell over.

We do carry sand-bags for the tripod legs and holding a rod plumb can be a challenge. My estimate is sustained (not just gusts) somewhere around the 40-45 mph range is a good spot to pack it up.

I must have chased my cap 50 times today but kept working all day. I wonder if someone makes a cap with a string tie. Now a Cat 4, not that brave.

Depends on whether or not you care about the reliability of your work.

Just FYI - I thought I would let everybody know the results of actual field measurements taken to determine the effect of wind on a farm pond.

One particularly windy day a number of years ago we were topoing a pasture to eventually build a residential subdivision. There was a large farm pond than was approximately 1000' long and may 400 or 500 feet wide. The pond sat long-wise into our ever present wind from the SW.

At lunch we were discussing whether the pond's water was really "static" or if the wind affected it. I got to looking at the "edge of water" shots in the FB and the water was definitely higher at the north end than the south. We decided to measure 'zackly how much from end to end. We determined the water level at the north end of the pond was awfully close to being a foot higher than the south end...it was .7 to .8' higher. The wind was around 25 mph that day.

paden cash, post: 393958, member: 20 wrote: We determined the water level at the north end of the pond was awfully close to being a foot higher than the south end...it was .7 to .8' higher.

Okay, just filling in the blanks here: (a) you were in Oklahoma and (b) the water was higher on the Texas end of the pond? Is this another one of those "Dog Bites Man" stories?

Kent McMillan, post: 393962, member: 3 wrote: Okay, just filling in the blanks here: (a) you were in Oklahoma and (b) the water was higher on the Texas end of the pond? Is this another one of those "Dog Bites Man" stories?

Nope. The Texas end of the pond was lower.
Which actually should make sense to anyone familiar with Physics 101...the lower end of the pond being closer to the lower atmospheric pressure that results from Texas sucking so much...

(It's getting close to THE football game..I had to throw in a "Texas Sucks" jab....;) )

paden cash, post: 393967, member: 20 wrote: Nope. The Texas end of the pond was lower.
Which actually should make sense to anyone familiar with Physics 101... )

Sorry, I temporarily forgot what the effect of the superior gravity of Texas would be. This effect you noted was determined with a LEVEL, I assume? Was it later found that the same instrument was way out of whack, even by Okie standards? :>

Kent McMillan, post: 393968, member: 3 wrote: ....This effect you noted was determined with a LEVEL, I assume?

One of the finest precise levels money could buy!

Have had this since the late 1970s

I don't mind working in the wind,just as long as your equipment will not blow over.One thing I will not do when it is windy,is work in the woods,limbs or trees coming down.

We had a bit of a gale for a short while yesterday. A couple of hours later I came upon a dead tree that had blown over onto a county hard-surfaced road, blocking it completely. Whipped out the cell phone, punched in the number from memory and reported the precise location of the problem so the nearest grader operator could at least shove it all off into the ditch before the end of his/her day. Yes, they have a lady road grader operator in that county. Her husband is a truck driver for that county as well.

There were three or four similar trees in a 200 foot stretch of trees that had grown up along the fenceline across the road ditch. I wouldn't have given it a second thought as a danger if I had been looking for a convenient spot to set up to see over the hill. It takes little reminders like this to make us aware of the dangers we may encounter at any time while on the job.

About 10 or 12 years ago I was parked in the woods and had been working not far from the truck. I went back to the truck for some reason and as soon as I opened the door a big ole' limb fell vertically hitting the bed of the truck with the thickest part of the limb. It beat up the bed pretty good and scared the sh*t out of me. I packed up and headed out. It was particularly windy that day. Ever since I find work to do in the open on windy days If I can. There was a surveyor around here a while back that got hit by a widow maker, someone found him in time to get him to the hospital. Keep your heads up if your in the woods today.

It was common protocol to be careful of engine blast, at O'hare airport...
[MEDIA=youtube]Q6AKVMtj5Kc[/MEDIA]

A few weeks ago we were at a small bluegrass festival in a wooded park, with RV's and tents everywhere. People showed us a large tree, perhaps 30 ft in length, that had fallen the night before, by some miracle landing between all the targets. It had leaves and I wouldn't have suspected a problem, but the roots must have been rotten because it didn't pull up much dirt. The wind hadn't been anything remarkable.

Walnut trees.......My non-surveyor brother was giving me a hand a couple of weeks ago and pointed out that I was about to set a traverse nail directly under one. I was to engrossed in checking all my sight lines to all of the things I needed to locate and would've missed it had he not spoken up. I bet a direct hit from a walnut would at the very least cause you to have to re-level the instrument.

I recently spent a few days working under coconuts at least 60' high. Campground on a National Park beach. Tourists all over. If it was windy I'd have a hard hat on. Coconuts can kill.

I've had to deal with giant pieces of plastic tarps swallowing my car at 60mph on I20 headed east out of Dallas, TX
Pine cones and hickory nuts falling like rain aside Whatley Lake on Wright Patman Lake
Rain flying sideways from passing tornados
Worst was the cantaloupe size hail falling at dawn in Texarkana, TX

Your word of the day as appropriate ............
Wind effect on water bodies .............. a seiche

YOS

DGG