Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Lethbridge forecast, issued early Friday, calls for wind picking up to 50 km/h gusting to 70 near noon, then west 60 gusting to 80 tonight before easing Saturday morning. No alerts were in effect as of mid-morning Friday, but check weather.gc.ca for the latest.
That’s a good reason for a short walk around your antennas while it’s still light and before the strongest gusts arrive.
A daylight checklist
- Guy lines and anchors. Look for slack lines, worn rope, and stakes working loose in dry ground.
- Telescoping and crank-up masts. If yours is designed to come down, lowering it before a big wind takes most of the load off.
- Wire antennas. Trees and supports sway in a gust. A bit of slack, or a counterweight on one end, lets the wire move instead of snapping.
- Feedline. Tie off loose coax so it can’t slap against the house or rub on a gutter edge all night.
- Portable and temporary setups. Bring in anything on a tripod or a quick-deploy mast.
Two safety rules: don’t climb or work up high in the wind, and keep yourself, your ladder and any wire well clear of power lines. If something comes down tonight, leave it until daylight and calmer air.
For more on mounting, weather and wear, see Environment & Installation.
Keep your net radio ready
Strong gusts can bring down branches and cause power interruptions. Tonight is a good night to top up handheld batteries and know where your backup power is. If the lights go out, a charged radio lets you listen in or check in on a local net. The Nets page lists where to find them, and the Emergency Radio Kit page covers what’s worth having in a grab-and-go bag.
Once the wind settles on Saturday, a quick SWR check will tell you whether anything shifted overnight.