What wind speed will blow a trampoline away?

The short answer

No trampoline is sold with a wind rating, and no anchor kit reviewed here has one either. What exists instead is a record of where trampolines have actually left the yard. In National Weather Service storm reports from 2020 to 2025 that include a measured gust, trampolines were thrown, wrecked or hung on power lines at gusts of 51 to 74 mph, with a median of 64 mph¹. Staked and weighted ones were among them.

That is where trampolines make the news, not where they start to move, so plan from the forecast. At a Wind Advisory (gusts of 46 to 57 mph at most offices⁶⁷), take the net down and tie the top rail to the ground. At a High Wind Warning or severe thunderstorm, gusts of 58 mph or more, take it apart.

Why manufacturers will not give a number

The manuals are clear about the hazard and silent on the speed. Skywalker's warns that "a trampoline with an enclosure can be moved or blown over by high winds", hurting anyone in its path or inside the net, and that wind damage is not warranted². Pure Fun's anchor kit says its stakes are "only meant to assist in keeping your trampoline secure in low to moderate winds"³. Springfree says it is not responsible "for any trampoline or trampoline accessory that blows away"⁴. The only holding figure found on any anchor product is a UK listing for Springfree's kit, "designed to withstand forces of up to 900N"⁵, about 200 pounds of force, with no wind speed attached.

What six years of storm reports show

Local Storm Reports are the National Weather Service's log of damage and measured winds, sent in by spotters, emergency managers, the public and its own surveys, and archived by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet¹. Between January 2020 and December 2025, 198 separate reports from 41 states mention a trampoline (216 entries, less 18 that only correct an earlier one).

• Thunderstorms dominate. 153 came from thunderstorm winds or a downburst, 25 from non-thunderstorm wind, and 11 from tornadoes.
• Spring and summer. 154 of the 198, 78%, fell between March and August.
• They travel. Reports describe trampolines thrown 60 feet, 300 feet, 150 yards, 500 yards and a quarter of a mile.
• Into the grid. 13 reports put a trampoline on, in or wrapped by power lines or poles. In one Iowa report a metal pole from a trampoline went through a house's siding.

Most reports carry no wind speed. Nine do carry a measured gust at or near the trampoline:

The lowest of those, 51 mph, is also the gust the National Weather Service reported near Lyman, Idaho, on April 2, 2022, with 30 mph sustained winds, when a 300 pound trampoline slammed into a mother and broke her collarbone¹⁰. She and her husband had gone out to stake it because it looked unstable.

The low end is lower than that. On April 24, 2025, a trampoline near Clayton, Washington, became airborne and damaged a house's siding, and the closest observation, at Deer Park Airport, showed gusts of only 20 to 25 mph¹. An airport miles away can miss a local gust, so read that as a warning, not a threshold.

Staked is not the same as secured

Three reports describe a trampoline that was held down and went anyway¹:

• Corvallis, Oregon, January 2021. "Pinned and weighted down on the legs", it was tossed through a yard, "ripping the legs off".
• Inola, Oklahoma, March 2022. A "multi-point staked" trampoline blew away in a measured 67 mph.
• Flat Rock, Ohio, May 2025. A "well-anchored" trampoline was picked up and took "a brief flight".

The Corvallis report is exactly the failure Skywalker's manual warns about. It says to attach ropes to the top of the frame, and "do not simply secure the legs or the bases to the ground, as they can separate from the frame sockets"². A stake over the leg holds the leg, not the frame sitting on top of it.

Pure Fun also says not to install its stakes in mud, dry soil, sand, frozen or very rocky ground³. Anchoring a playset explains why auger anchors outperform straight stakes in loose soil.

How to secure a trampoline before a wind event

Match the job to the forecast. The National Weather Service defines a gust as a variation of 10 knots or more between peaks and lulls⁹, so read the gust figure, not the headline speed.

The steps, in order:

1. Take the enclosure down. Skywalker says to disassemble the netting²; Springfree says to lower it⁴. It is not the whole fix: a 2022 Texas report describes a trampoline "without enclosure" carried a fair distance in gusts estimated at 50 to 60 mph¹.
2. Tie the top rail, not the legs. Skywalker asks for at least three or four ropes from the top of the frame to stakes². Ratchet straps to auger anchors, spaced evenly round the ring, do the same job.
3. Keep the anchors flush. Stake tops at ground level, covered if needed, so nobody lands on them later².
4. Pull the soft parts. The pad and net tear first and are the cheapest to save. Winterizing covers storing them.
5. For a warning, disassemble. Skywalker calls this the only sure method², and Pure Fun and Springfree both recommend it for severe weather³⁴. Bag the hardware by joint, as in moving or removing a playset, so it goes back together.

Where it sits matters as much as how it is tied

The backyard trampoline guide asks for 6 feet of side clearance and about 24 feet overhead, clear of branches and wires. Wind adds one more check: what is downwind. The reports above show trampolines landing on roofs, cars, fences, a highway and power lines. If storm winds would carry it toward a road or a service drop, pick another spot. Small yards and site prep and leveling cover choosing the pad, and permits and HOA rules covers setbacks to lot lines. A neighbor's damaged roof is a liability question, not a warranty one, and insurance and risk management covers what to ask a carrier.

Jumping on a windy day

Skywalker says the trampoline "must not be used in gusty or severe winds" because gusts "can cause jumpers to lose control"², and gives no number. Stop at Beaufort force 5, 19 to 24 mph, when "small trees in leaf begin to sway"⁸. That matches the CPSC's 20 mph home limit in bounce house wind limits and sits below the gusts recorded near the Clayton trampoline. Thunder is a separate trigger, covered in lightning on playgrounds, and both rules need an adult in sight, the point of supervision.

What this data cannot tell you

Storm reports record damage, so they lean toward the worst wind. They say nothing about trampolines that rode out the same gusts or the size of most that moved, and few gusts were measured at the yard. The archive itself is "certainly not complete or official"¹. Treat the numbers as what has happened, not what a given trampoline will survive. Injury statistics explains the same limits for injury data.

What to do next

Buy auger anchors and four ratchet straps before you need them. Set a weather alert for your county and treat a Wind Advisory as the trigger to drop the net and strap the rail. After every storm, check for bent tubes and legs lifted from their sockets, the same pass as annual maintenance, and replace bent parts using repairs and replacement parts.