Safety Guidance for Windy Days

Have you ever had the experience of being outdoors with children when a tree branch falls? Or seen a tree fall down in person, if not noticed that one fell over since your last visit to your site? It’s no joke. As outdoor educators we have a responsibility to consider the weather along with all the other risk management we do to help define our programs in general and throughout our days, specifically. 

I was once with a small group by the creek, and as we were leaving a small branch fell right next to one of my students, right after others passed through. Even one that looks small on a tree looks huge in comparison to the students! We were on our way to another location, and on our walk, right before we passed a huge Coast Live Oak, one of its branches dropped straight down. Suffice it to say, we all stayed out from under the trees for the rest of the day- it was scary! The experiences from that day are just some of what we’ve either experienced directly or have noticed since the last times we visited various sites. 

My general rule for Outside School is, “High wind advisory may cause school to be 1/2 day, moved to another location, and/or canceled.” Deciding whether a windy day is too dangerous to have school can feel very much like some sort of mixture of science, art, experience, and sorcery/witchcraft. 

One morning text I wrote to my families went like this:

“The weather’s blindsided me this morning- it’s way higher winds than I was expecting (18-22MPH) throughout the day, with occasional gusts over 40MPH. It’s not an official wind advisory day. 15MPH is usually where I try to keep kids out from under big trees. 17MPH is generally where I become uncomfortable, and 20+MPH is where I generally think it’s unsafe based on my years of experience. I feel like I ought to cancel school for today due to safety around the stressed trees.”

Another went like this:

“The wind speeds and gusts, particularly combined with the quantity of rain expected during school hours and the saturated soils are just not safe enough. I have to trust the data and weather advisories, my experience, and my gut.”

Our Bay Area trees are suffering from years of drought, and rain causes these damaged trees to soak up more, much needed water into their tissues and add more weight from it on their surfaces. Often, root systems aren’t strong because of the drought, and wind makes them even more likely to fall. In 2023, one day was predicted to have 30MPH winds, and that was an easy day for me to decide to cancel school. As it turned out, five people died from downed trees in the Bay Area that day. (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tens-thousands-without-power-california-latest-storm-lashes-state-2023-03-22/)

Keep yourselves and those in your care safe, everyone!

By Heather Taylor. You are welcome to share all materials with credit to her.