Whether you are sipping coffee or having a relaxed meal at a café, you probably wouldn’t like it if the restaurant umbrella continuously wobbles over your head when it faces high winds. The rattling sound that it makes will make you feel more frustrated. And in worst-case scenarios, the commercial café umbrella might just fly away or topple over. This might not only damage the umbrella, but it can also hurt you.

While this is from a consumer’s perspective, imagine if you are the owner of the restaurant or café. You might have installed a good quality large outdoor umbrella keeping in mind the comfort factor of your guests but, eventually, the unstable umbrella would cause irreparable harm to your business enterprise. And in cases of eateries, the word often travels fast.

That’s why you need to be wary of what you should be doing if the wind speed suddenly increases. While our advice is to always close the umbrella if you face strong winds but we understand that it might not always be possible to quickly shut the device.

So, in this blog, we will discuss in detail the precautions you need to take to protect your umbrella in high winds:

Buy a wind-resistant umbrella: A strong umbrella not only shields you and your guests from the sun’s harsh UV rays and rain showers, but it can also resist wind or sudden gusts. A high wind-resistant umbrella tells you a lot about the umbrella’s durability and strength.

Strong base: A heavy base is vital to anchor the restaurant umbrella securely, preventing it from lifting, flying away, or falling over. Many manufacturers don’t provide a base with an umbrella. Under such conditions, you can always buy additional bases like water weights, metal plates or sandbags.

Pole: The pole is the most essential part of an umbrella because it keeps the device upright. So a sturdy and strong pole structure can resist all types of weather. Typically, frames made of aluminium, steel, or fibreglass are more in demand because all these metals are lightweight and strong. We would suggest you don’t buy wooden-framed poles because wood can snap easily under the wind.

Canopy: The material used for the canopy of a commercial cafe umbrella goes through a lot of wear and tear because it is always protecting you from weather elements. It essentially is bearing the brunt of being exposed to the sun and the rain. So the material should be long-lasting and durable. Otherwise, the wind can easily rip through the fabric. The most popular choices in the material for the canopy are acrylic, polyester, Spanish recasens, and Italian Para Tempotest.

Use a cantilever umbrella for better protection

A great choice for wind-resistance is a cantilever umbrella. These types of large outdoor umbrellas are suspended and supported by a pole placed to one side rather than in the middle of the canopy. The unique design of the umbrella not only imparts strength, stability, and versatility but also gives you an unobstructed view.

The cantilever umbrellas allow unhindered movement as they can be raised or lowered and tilted to permit movement from left to right, forward and backward, or even a full 360-degree rotation. You can also shade a large area because the angle of the umbrella can be easily changed to provide protection at all times without moving the position of the umbrella base.

Tilting the umbrella

In Australia, the weather can change in a matter of a few hours. If it gets windy suddenly, a good idea to protect your umbrella from flipping over or getting blown away is you can tilt the umbrella into the wind. This way, the wind will push the umbrella down toward its heavy base instead of lifting it. Now, keep tilting the umbrella according to the direction of the wind throughout the day and you will be safe and secure.

But, as always, we would like to warn you that no umbrella is entirely wind-resistant. In extreme conditions, you must close your umbrella and store them away.

Generally, the National Weather Service would announce a wind advisory under two conditions:

If there is a chance of sustained winds of 30 mph for an hour
When there is a possibility of frequent gusts of wind at 45 mph in the next 36 hours

However, it does not mean that wind speeds less than these won’t cause you any damage. The idea then is to have a restaurant umbrella that can be opened and closed easily in extreme wind conditions or when a storm approaches.

Conclusion

While buying an umbrella, check for a product that is durable and offers the highest quality commercial-grade wind resistance. The tilt and rotate features are also extremely important because the technology would help you keep your guests under a cool shade throughout the day. Umbrellas with unparalleled wind resistance are stable and long-lasting and can provide reliable shade and protection.

Interesting Related Article: “A List of Equipment & Supplies Every Restaurant Needs“