Rides Closing in Bad Weather?

[CoburnJason54]

I was at Great Adventure the last few days, and lots of bad storms were moving in. The park started closing down all of the outdoor coasters. We didn't even get a single drop of rain (on the first storm, little bit different than the storm the next day that put half an inch of water on the ground in five minutes) but the storm was very close. That made me wonder, what will make a park close their rides? Does each state have a certain regulation that the park has to follow with the distance the storm is or is it just as simple as if you can hear and see it then it is time to close them?

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Usually I've found that parks close rides when a storm is in say a 30 mile radius of the park.

 

[rtotheizzo17]

All parks have lightning policies but most in Orlando start shutting down coasters at the 7-10 mile radius. Its been a few years since ive been in ops so im sure someone who is still in the biz can pinpoint the number.

Additionally, most parks have weather codes, some colored some numbered, that indicate the severity of the storm. So heavy rains and winds may bring some parks down.

 

[Mysterious Sue]

I think it really depends on the park. I've been shocked before at how quickly six flags parks close rides even before its raining, but then I've been on Bizarro in New England during huge amounts of rain. The fear of lightning could explain it I guess, but not for closing the smaller rides.
A few weeks ago I was in Texas during some real bad storms. It didn't seem to bother Kemah and they ran in the pissing rain.

Over here in the UK we wouldn't ever get on a ride if it closed due to rain. Things only stop due to high wind really. Especially in coastal parks. An Intamin accelerator in the sleet or snow is a rather painful sensation.

 

[Hyde]

Ohio doesn't have any requirements regarding bad weather for amusement parks, outside of having appropriate plans for emergency evacuation of a park or ability to shelter in place.

Both Kings Island and Cedar Point will close as soon as precipitation begins to fall on normal operation days. This isn't necessarily out of concern for safety (however, Magnum did have an incident of sliding through its final brake run back in 2007, bumping into the next train in the station), but ride comfort. It turns out rain actually feels pretty awful when your face is traveling at 70+ MPH. For lightning, all rides shut down, and usually remain down until 30-45 minutes of all-clear lightning.

However, on slower days, especially weekend-only operation, either park has been known to leave rides running if rain is 100% in the forecast. Nothing worse than dealing with an angry mob of park goers on a cold, wet day in October. This is where I am able to share my experience of riding MF in a torrential downpour. Not for the faint of heart. However, Mean Streak was running without trims! :razz:

 

[tomahawk]

Worlds of Fun had a five tier weather system in which different rides shut down. Level 4 was I think every ride but the carousel and like one other, and 5 was everyone seek solid shelter we might die (tornadic activity inside five miles). Lightning inside 25 miles was one, 20 2, 15 3, and 10 4.

Mamba closed on first tier since very tall metal structures and lightning mix well. That thing closed a lot in late evenings in the humid summer.

 

[Hyde]

^ See, that's the thing with Cedar Point. There is a tiering of rides, but then there isn't. There is a central control housed in the Coliseum building where the park managers work from, which calls the shots on which rides are up and down. There are some general rules of thumb, such as Sky Ride, Gatekeeper, TTD, and Windseeker closing in high winds; but not an official criteria determined by weather. Rides are called individually as weather is monitored and adjusted for.

However, one tip that CP Guest Services did develop is that after all rides have been closed in the park due to weather, look to Power Tower. When Power Tower started testing, the rest of the park's major rides usually reopened within the following hour.