[SFDXA] HAM radio still part of hurricane center arsenal

[Bill]

Today's Sun Sentinel Ft Lauderdale:


  HAM radio still part of hurricane center arsenal

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-hurricane-ham-radio-operators-20130615,0,2956074.story


  Full Story:


  HAM radio still part of hurricane center arsenal

Amid the high-tech computers, satellite dishes and sophisticated 
equipment at the National Hurricane Center is the WX4NHC Amateur Radio 
Station.
By Ken Kaye <http://bio.tribune.com/KenKaye>, Staff writer

4:02 p.m. EDT, June 15, 2013

Amid the high-tech computers, satellite dishes and sophisticated 
equipment at the National Hurricane Center 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/intl/bahamas-PLGEO00000188.topic> is 
a HAM radio operator station, somewhat hidden in a back office.

It might seem like it's akin to placing a teletype on a space shuttle. 
But when hurricanes form, the amateur radio station cranks up and 
receives weather information from HAM operators in the affected areas. 
Their observations help the forecasters in Miami-Dade County 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/florida/miami-dade-county-PLGEO100100408000000.topic> 
better judge a storm's strength or position and issue more precise warnings.

"The goal of our station basically is to help save lives," said Julio 
Ripoll, assistant coordinator of the hurricane center's Amateur Radio 
Station. "We give hurricane forecasters eyewitness reports and data they 
probably wouldn't otherwise have."

  * Related
  * Hurricane HAM radio station
    <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/sfl-hurricane-ham-radio-station-20130612,0,227693.embeddedvideo>
    Hurricane HAM radio station
    <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/sfl-hurricane-ham-radio-station-20130612,0,227693.embeddedvideo>

  * Amateur Radio Station
    <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-hurricane-ham-radio-operators-1-jpg-20130615,0,3997587.photo>
    Amateur Radio Station
    <http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-hurricane-ham-radio-operators-1-jpg-20130615,0,3997587.photo>


For instance, in November 2001, as Hurricane Michelle was approaching 
the Bahamas, the hurricane center thought the system was weakening. But 
a HAM operator on a sailboat in the Bahamas reported the storm was still 
generating winds up to 110 mph.

"It was just in time," Ripoll said. "The Bahamas were about to lower 
their hurricane warnings, and it was still technically a hurricane."

The station, known in the HAM operator world as WX4NHC, is staffed by 30 
volunteers who swing into action whenever a storm is about 300 miles 
from hitting the U.S. coast or land in the Caribbean. They have worked 
more than a 100 hurricanes in the past three decades.

They'll work in three-hour shifts around the clock, receiving real-time 
weather observations from other HAM operators, who might be thousands of 
miles away or down the block.

James Franklin, the hurricane center's top hurricane specialist, said 
HAM operator observations help sharpen short-term predictions.

"We sample so little of the storm's circulation, so any additional 
observation helps our analysis of what's going on now," he said.

In September 1998, when Hurricane Georges was aiming toward eastern Cuba 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/intl/cuba-PLGEO00000190.topic>, 
hurricane center forecasters were unsure of the exact location of the 
eye -- because the Cuban government wouldn't allow U.S. hurricane hunter 
aircraft to fly into its airspace.

Hurricane specialist Lixion Avila asked the center's HAM station to 
reach out to Cuban radio operators. Ripoll found a HAM operator on the 
eastern most point of the island.

"The HAM operator was yelling over the microphone, and you could hear 
his excitement and the wind in the background," Ripoll said. "He 
explained that he was standing on this chair with about 2 feet of water 
in his house."

Ultimately, the operator gave Ripoll the direction of the wind, which 
helped Avila determine the location of the eye, a critical piece of 
information needed to develop an accurate track forecast.

Ripoll, a Miami architect, set up the HAM radio station at the hurricane 
center 33 years ago, when it was located in Coral Gables 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/florida/miami-dade-county/coral-gables-PLGEO100100408040000.topic>. 
He was asked to do so by former center director Neil Frank, who wanted a 
backup way to alert the Caribbean.

Ripoll, then head of the University of Miami amateur radio club, carted 
over his own personal radio in a cardboard box, full of wires. Today, 
the station has six permanent radios worth about $20,000, all donated by 
corporations.

John McHugh, coordinator of the hurricane center's station, said amateur 
radio can provide communications even when electricity is out because 
operators are trained to use generators and batteries to keep their 
radios on.

He said the hurricane center station operates with HF, or high frequency 
waves, for long-distance communications, and with VHF and UHF to 
communicate with local emergency managers and other government officials.

HAM operators have provided critical communications in the aftermath of 
storms, directing recovery agencies, such as the Salvation Army 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/religion-belief/christianity/protestantism/the-salvation-army-12009013.topic>, 
where to distribute food and emergency supplies. Hurricane center HAMs 
also helped victims of the 2010 earthquake 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/disasters-accidents/earthquakes/haiti-earthquake-%282010%29-EVHST0000230.topic> 
in Haiti receive supplies.

Larry Lazar, president of the Wellington 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/wellington?track=tax-wellington> 
Radio Club, said hundreds of HAM operators in South Florida are ready to 
help out if a storm hits this region. They helped get hot meals to 
people left homeless after Hurricane Andrew 
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/disasters-accidents/meteorological-disasters/hurricanes/hurricane-andrew-%281992%29-EVHST000062.topic> 
in 1992. They also helped residents without power in the aftermath of 
Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, which hit the Treasure Coast in 2004.

"It's exactly what we do," he said. "We practice for it."

/kkaye at tribune.com <mailto:kkaye at tribune.com> or 954-572-2085./