We had reports of 4 tornadoes approaching. I will not mention the park but will tell you they were not prepared for what happened. We too heard the alerts on National Weather Service. We read your article with interest as we too lived through a tornado producing storm in Wrightstown Wisconsin on July 20 of this year. He and Cheri currently roam in their fifth travel trailer, with Dave doing all the service, repair and modifications to his own unit. When he’s not out boondocking, you’ll find Dave in the spotlight at RV shows across the country, giving seminars about all things RVing. Dave’s reputation earned him the title of “ The foremost expert on boondocking,” bestowed by RV industry icon, the late Gary Bunzer ( The RV Doctor). ![]() Dave has also served as President of a local chapter of the Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA), worked on the board of advisors for the RV Technician Program of a local technical college, and served as a board member of the Manufactured Home and RV Association. The duo also spent 29 years overseeing regional RV shows. He and his wife Cheri launched their own RV dealership in the Pacific Northwest. His grandparents and father owned an RV dealership before the term “RV” had been coined, and Dave played a pivotal role in nearly every position of an RV dealership. No sooner had we thought we were “in the clear” then tornado alerts from the National Weather Service started going off on our smartphones informing us to “Take Shelter Now.” The only form of shelter anywhere in the campground or surrounding area was a concrete vault toilet with a side for Men and a side for Women.ĭave Helgeson’s many roles in the RV industry started before he even had a driver’s license. The storm arrived over us dropping heavy rains with only moderate winds and no hail. Taking the farmer’s warning a little more seriously, we used the mats we normally have under our awnings to cover the hoods and roofs of our tow vehicles in the hopes it would prevent damage if we were to experience large hailstones. No sooner had he said that when the plane made a sweeping turn and reentered the storm. My friend commented that it looked like one of those airplanes that he sees on storm chasing shows on TV. The tail end of the storm Camping in the middle of a tornado stormĪs we were watching the storm approach, we spotted a large two-engine airplane emerge from the menacing clouds. The colors of the radar echo showed nothing more severe than a storm we would experience at home in the Pacific Northwest, where we never experience large, vehicle-damaging hail storms, so we decided to stay put and “watch the show.” Once our friends returned we discussed what to do and used weather apps to view radar images of the storm on our smartphones. ![]() He even offered the use of one of his outbuildings for shelter from the storm if we wanted to drive about a mile up the road to his farm. I thanked him and he proceeded down the campground where he spotted our friends who were out for an after-dinner walk and informed them as well. I asked him what size hailstones were predicted, but he didn’t know. The gentlemen in the truck informed me that a large thunderstorm was approaching and weather alerts had predicted winds up to 60 MPH and hail. We had just finished dinner and I was picking up trash left by less thoughtful campers around our campsite at North Carlson Lake, located in the rural farm country of western North Dakota, when a truck passing by circled around and approached me. Our attempt to protect the tow vehicle Our Close Encounter With A Tornado Storm
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