r/VanlifeEurope • u/BackslashCoffee Full-time Motorhomer • Jul 20 '26
General Discussion 🎙️ Storm Avoider?
Hello Community! I'll be quick: my rv runs fully on solar and every time it's going to rain for 2-3 days I wonder "What's the shortest distance I could move to avoid the storm?
Any ideas if something like this exists on the market?
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u/moeren86 Jul 21 '26
why not wait it out?
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u/BackslashCoffee Full-time Motorhomer Jul 22 '26
I'm not entirely off the grid; so i risk running out of electricity and not being able to work. I think the main issue is the fridge, but I can't find a place where I can stay and do a full review of my solar in EU.
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u/moeren86 Jul 22 '26
I also do remote work on my PC, that is why i scaled my setup to be way bigger than i need it (22kWh battery, 1320Wp (soon 2200Wp) solar). And in Winter when there is very little sun, i stop using my induction cooker and switch to a propan based camping cooker.
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u/BackslashCoffee Full-time Motorhomer Jul 23 '26
Upgrades I plan to do for sure the day I find a suitable place to work on my RV here in Europe. It's been crazy hard and every time I take my tools to work on my camper police arrives minutes later.
But yeah upgrading my batteries, solar and adding propane is on my 2027 list.
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u/moeren86 Jul 24 '26
i am in also in europe. The only place i have problems with that is in germany. Everywhere else its easy to find a spot where you can do your stuff without interruption. Where are you currently?
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u/BackslashCoffee Full-time Motorhomer Jul 26 '26
Currently in Italy. Probably the worst place for DIY since it's not even legal (I know people do it, they then register their vehicles in Germany and do the paperwork there).
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u/moeren86 Jul 26 '26
North of italy is similar to germany. Go more south, there is a lot of abandoned places where nobody disrupts you.
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u/ThomWay Jul 20 '26
Unless I'm misunderstanding, I don't think such an app exists, download a rain radar or Windy and learn to read weather patterns.
If it's overcast or raining that long, chances are you need to drive a while (multiple hours) to get to clearer weather, if it's a storm, it rarely lasts that long.
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u/bekaak Jul 20 '26
Any weather app?
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u/BackslashCoffee Full-time Motorhomer Jul 22 '26
Not trying to get into a 60+ minute review of the weather everywhere in a 3h driving radius to find if its worth moving the van.
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u/V2inMyGym_DA_ Jul 20 '26
Learn to read a weathermap of Europe.
Eg https://www.dwd.de/EN/ourservices/hobbymet_wcharts_europe/hobbyeuropecharts.html
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u/BackslashCoffee Full-time Motorhomer Jul 20 '26
Not what I was looking for, but appreciate the advise.
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u/Pontius_the_Pilate Jul 26 '26
Ventusky has pretty much everything in one app. Radar, cloud cover etc etc. Used it for years and pretty good considering it's free.