[W3GV] Hurricane Watch Net

[Ucdavid at aol.com]

Hurricane  Watch Net Activating for Hermine, Hawaii Dodges Madeline, 
SKYWARN Eyeing  Lester
09/01/2016   
The  Hurricane Watch Net has (_HWN_ (http://www.hwn.org/) )  has announced 
plans to activate for Tropical Storm Hermine at 1400 UTC. The  storm is 
expected to develop into a hurricane before making landfall on  Florida’s Gulf 
Coast. The net typically operates on 14.325 MHz until nightfall,  then moves 
7.268 MHz for the remainder of the evening. Given current band  conditions, 
however, the HWN will be active on bothfrequencies  simultaneously. The net 
will remain in operation until further notice, HWN  Manager Bobby Graves, 
KB5HAV, said. 
“It  seems we’ve been tracking this system, which began as a tropical 
disturbance,  for nearly 2 weeks,” Graves said. “Yesterday, this system finally 
became  Tropical Storm Hermine. It is expected to make landfall late 
Thursday evening or  early Friday morning as a Category 1 Hurricane somewhere 
between Panama City  Beach and Cedar Key, Florida…of course, this could change.”
 
As  of 1200 UTC, Hermine was reported strengthening. It’s located about 235 
miles  west-southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 65 MPH, 
moving  north-northeast at 12 MPH. A Hurricane Warning is in effect from the 
Suwannee  River to Mexico Beach. The NWS said interests along the US East Coast 
should  monitor the progress of this system. 
Graves  said the HWN would be available to provide back-up communication to 
entities  such as emergency operations centers and Red Cross offices in the 
affected area.  “We will also be interested to collect and report 
significant damage assessment  data to FEMA officials stationed in the National 
Hurricane Center,” he  added. 
Florida's  Emergency Operations Center is at full activation, and 
evacuation shelters are  on standby. 
SKYWARN  Tracking Pacific Hurricane Lester 
ARRL  Pacific Section Emergency Coordinator Clement Jung, KH7HO, said the 
National  Weather Service (NWS) will activate SKYWARN for Hurricane Lester at 
1800 UTC on  Saturday, September 3, continuing until midnight on Sunday, 
September 4. All  four Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) districts on the 
Big Island of  Hawaii remain in active status for Hurricane Lester, to 
support each other and  served agencies. KH6SW remains on the air from the NWS 
Honolulu Forecast Office  on HF, VHF, and UHF. 
The  NWS reports that a weakening Madeline, now a tropical storm, was 
passing “well  south of the Big Island,” with maximum sustained winds of 50 MPH, 
but the storm  was dumping a lot of rain on the Big Island, and a flood 
advisory was in effect  for some areas. Predictions call for up to 10 inches of 
rain, and possibly more.  A SKYWARN activation for Madeline has been 
discontinued. 
Hurricane  Lester, now a category 2 storm, continues its westward movement 
toward the  Hawaiian Islands. As of 0900 UTC, Lester was some 800 miles east 
of Hilo and  1030 miles east of Honolulu, boasting maximum sustained winds 
of 110 MPH. The  storm is moving at 14 MPH. Some weakening was forecast 
through late Friday. No  watches or warnings are in effect. 
ARES  teams remain ready to initiate local repeater nets, holding 146.52 
MHz simplex  in reserve in case repeaters go down. Plans call for using HF 
(7.180 and 3.975  MHz) to relay traffic via Auxiliary Communications Service 
(ACS) nets to the  Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency Emergency Operations 
Center (EOC). SKYWARN  traffic will use Fldigi MT63 1KL or voice on 7.080 MHz 
(USB),  with 3.888 MHz (LSB) as an alternate frequency, and 7.095 MHz 
available to  support informal and tactical traffic. 
Public  schools in Hawaii remained closed on September 1, and Hawaii Gov 
David Inge has  urged residents of the Big Island to take steps to protect 
people and property.  Some government offices and businesses also have closed. 
A dozen schools have  been designated to serve as emergency evacuation 
shelters.