Specific Precautions When driving In Unstable Weather Conditions

[Frederic]

During periods of unstable weather, the driving conditions in the desert change severely. Especially rain and heavy winds transform the dunes and will demand changes in your dune driving style. 

In this topic we will try to provide helpful tips to both leads and club members on how to prevent incidents when driving in this type of terrain.

There are three main weather variables that we will cover.

• Heavy rains
• Heavy winds, sandstorms
• Foggy conditions

Heavy Rains

Off-roading during heavy rain should be avoided. It limits the visibility in the convoy, and the convoy should either halt and wait for the rains to stop or continue slowly to move towards another place where there is less rain. 

Driving in the dunes after rains might look very easy; the sand feels like concrete, but there are several issues that arise:

1. Tire pressure will need to be increased to mitigate pop-outs. If you drive on 10-12 psi, you will need to bring it to 15-16psi.

2. Cross-tracks, often found in busy desert areas, become more dangerous as driving in them might throw off the balance of your 4x4. 

3. Ridges will appear fine but can crumble at the slightest impact. Additionally, along the length of a ridge you might suddenly find severe drops as where the rain gushed down and took a part of the dune with it.

4. Sabkhas can become mud pools. A sabkha or salt flat can look innocent, but after severe rains you might sink down while driving over it. Always approach a sabkha closer to vegetation or closer to the dunes, so you have a way to escape in case you start to sink down. When you approach with a convoy, let one vehicle go first and identify how deep his tracks in the sabkha go before following.

5. Sudden sharp steering will be penalized with a pop-out or even vehicle flip. Your 4x4 will slide more in the wet sand and there will be more slip. Drive extra carefully and do not overrate your skills.

6. Layering. During periods of rain, the absorption rate of the sand will depend on various factors, so as a result you might come across a dry-looking first layer, followed by wet portions of sand underneath. The combination of these two, being ripped open by our tires, will result in different traction at different locations. This unpredictability will make your 4x4 behave differently, and extra caution and focus will be needed throughout the drive,

How layering would look like:

Wet dunes, with colour variations that reflect the amount of water it carries in each location:

Heavy winds, sandstorms

During heavy winds / sandstorms, the terrain will undergo drastic changes. Apart from the limited visibility, which means you better halt the convoy, the dunes itself will shift and there will be temporary changes to the sand and ridges which makes the terrain very unpredictable to drive in. A small blowhole on the backside of the dune will now carry a lot of fresh sand and will make you sink in immediately. 

After heavy winds, and due to the sand shifting, there might be old vegetation popping up from underneath, which together with wet sand will form clumps and might cause pop-outs.

Foggy conditions

Especially in early mornings, fog can be a dealbreaker for an enjoyable off-road drive. Due to the limited visibility, it will be too dangerous to start driving with your convoy. You might need the help of your AC to dry down the inside cabin a bit in order to increase visibility. Give it some time for the fog to clear up.