I had planned to make the drive from Houston to Caprock Canyon State Park and stay Wednesday-Friday of next week. The forecast is showing max winds of 17-20mph for those days. My family is young with 4 kids under 6 years or younger so I don't want to push the comfort limits too much.

Do you think if the forecast is accurate the winds would lead to an uncomfortable trip? We did go camping at Corpus Christi a few years back and the winds were pretty bad but I can't remember what the mph was for a point of reference.

If you aren't used to it, then it might be a little uncomfortable -- more so if it is cold or wet. However, in the evening it will likely die down and you will just appreciate that all the more.

For the most part, though, a 20 mph wind doesn't deter me from much.

When I was in high school, I remember my sister who is ten years older than me saying something about the winds in the Panhandle. I honestly had no idea what she was talking about -- I thought this was just normal.

So while most people around here might not think it is an issue, someone from a less windy place could find the wind pretty annoying.

Dang. Less than 20 mph winds for us in Amarillo is pleasant weather. The kind you sit on the porch and drink some cold beer/cocktails.

I'm all honesty. It sounds ALOT worse than it actually is. I grew up in the Houston area and moved out here 15 years ago. I thought the wind was bad, but until it hits 30-40 mph, it's really not all that bad. One piece of advice I was given when I first moved out here was to always park with your windshield into the wind so it won't rip the door from your hands when you open it.

There was one rather interesting wind event up here that I only recollect seeing once.

It was maybe 6 or 7 years ago and I was driving to town on a Sunday afternoon.

While driving south, I could see a lot of dust ahead of me being blown strongly to the west. The dust was a couple of miles past an east west highway. When I got up to the east west highway and turned east, the dust was blowing strongly to the north. When I got up to that, it was quite windy for a mile or so and then let up. About five miles down the road, I looked to the right and saw the dust being blown just as strongly to the east. In the rear view mirror, it was still blowing strongly to the north behind me. I didn't drive around to see what it was doing four or five miles to the south.

It was a big downdraft that was about 4 or 5 miles across. The funny thing is that there was no associated updraft as far as I could tell and I don't remember there being any precipitation that day. Just a big downdraft on an otherwise pretty nice day.

Of course, if you flew through that downdraft, your day wouldn't turn out nice.

There will be parts of the day it's not that windy. Then there will be times mid afternoon where it's blowing more than 20. March is a windy SOB.

Come breathe some dry windy air, too much stale humid air isn't good for you.

Oh, and you might check the forecast again. They doubled the winds. Just hope they don't double them again.

17-20mph winds aren't that bad, IMO.

15-20mph? That's the kind of day when we go outside and wish for a cooling breeze.

Seriously, 15-20 is nothing. Not to mention that the forecast that far out is total speculation.

But as others have noted, the current forecast is for even higher winds. Yeah, 20-30 might get annoying.

But keep in mind that you're going to be down in the breaks and sheltered a bit by the mesquite and cedar. And the wind will be out of the Southwest, and you will be down off the caprock with the cliffs to your west.

It should be fine, the wind usually lays by evening.

For those of us from the area, the forecast is really not that bad.

A couple of points of advice, YMMV:

First, I assume that you will be tent camping. If so, a few tips that I've learned along the way: Make sure that you anchor your tent floor securely before you raise the poles. Also, try to face doors and openings away from the prevailing wind direction. Put your gear (or, at least some of it) inside the tent before you raise the poles.

Second, be extremely mindful of fires and anything that starts them. Keep your vehicle on paved surfaces, as tall grass and catalytic converters don't mix.

What site do you guys recommend for accurate weather forecasts for that area? I was using wunderground.

Storm Search 7 Chief Meteorologist Steve Kersh

That's the name of a Facebook page. Very detailed 10 day forecasts on there daily. Also, brace yourself. Thursday is going to be...breezy.

It's a beautiful afternoon. Sunny, comfortable wind, and a little cool.

For what it's worth, the winds here are being reported at 19 mph this afternoon.

I don't really have any input to the OP's dilemma, but this reminds of one time we camped in Palo Duro Canyon SP.

We were sleeping in the campsite one night when a front came through. The wind wimping down and through that canyon was incredible. None of us slept easily that night as the tent was shaking like crazy.

The morning was awesome, calm, and even snowy but man that night was crazy.

March through June in the panhandle is a beating. You'll be fine for a few days.

Weather report? It's been pretty nice in Canyon

Edit: Oops, wind just hit

How was the trip?

We enjoyed our trip and the weather did not affect us too much. For our full day there (Thursday) the weather was just about perfect with moderate winds and a high in the mid 80s. We got in a 2 mile hike that looked down into the Canyon with all 4 kids dragging along. Our last night we had very high winds most of the night, no idea how high...significantly more than 30mph. The campsite next to us had a $100, 2000 sqft Coleman tent that they abandoned as it morphed into a kite in the middle of the night. They retreated to an RV. Luckily my REI tents held up fine, even after we had a pole crack while we were pitching the bigger tent...luckily it was one of the bottom poles of the hoop and still allowed for most of the hoops U to be formed. Time to order some new poles.

Our campsite was really spacious and had some nice brush to act as a wind break, the covered picnic table was also appreciated. We ended up with an RV spot since that was all they had when I booked. This did mean we weren't actually in the canyon and had to drive in to appreciate the views. I was disappointed they did not have more family friendly trails and day use areas down in the canyon. The kids loved the Buffalo and prairie dog down which was right next to the playground just a couple minutes walk from our campsite.

No fires was also a bummer but that is just how it goes sometimes.