AMATEUR RADIO HURRICANE NETS READY

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From the ARRL email newsletter:

==> HURRICANE BILL DOWNGRADED TO CATEGORY 2; AMATEUR RADIO HURRICANE
NETS READY

Now that Tropical Storms Ana and Claudette have dissipated, Hurricane
Bill -- downgraded from a Category 4 storm to a Category 2 storm -- is
churning its way across the Atlantic with sustained winds near 110 miles
per hour. Even though the storm's projected path does not make landfall
in the US, hams affiliated with the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and the
VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIPWX) are ready to provide communications support.

Hurricane Watch Net

As Bill approached, HWN Manager Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, told the ARRL that
Net members are "limbering up their microphones and checking their
antennas. We're all very carefully watching the storm. We could activate
sometime during the next few days, based on the forecast tracks and
intensity. We always ask all of our Amateur Radio friends and any new
stations that might have data for us in the Atlantic, Caribbean, the
Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf coastal areas to dust off their weather
instruments. We'll probably need to establish communications with them
very soon."

The HWN -- operating on 14.325 MHz -- relays real-time weather
observations to WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org/> at the National
Hurricane Center (NHC) <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/>. "We want all of our
reporting stations, especially those closer to the US, to keep in mind
that we're also prepared to operate the HWN on 7.168 MHz or 3.668 MHz,"
Lefavour explained. "If propagation is such that we cannot maintain
contact with reporting stations on 14.325 MHz, we'll open a Net on one
or the other of those frequencies. Plans are to try 40 meters first,
with 80 meters as our last choice of bands."

Lefavour encouraged hams to monitor the HWN Web site
<http://www.hwn.org/> for Net activation plans: "We have placed data
products from the NHC on the HWN Web site, including maps and charts of
tropical storm activity."

VoIP Hurricane Net

The VoIP Hurricane Net -- which meets weekly during the hurricane season
months of June-November and monthly from December-May -- has also been
monitored Tropical Storms Ana and Claudette last week and is closely
monitoring the progress of Hurricane Bill this week
<http://www.voipwx.net/>.

"We are continuing to closely monitor the storm's progress," said VoIP
Hurricane Net Director of Operations Rob Macedo, KD1CY. "Since 2002, we
have been gathering surface reports to help WX4NHC save lives," he said.
"The Net activates whenever there is a landfalling hurricane and will
review any and all sources to gather surface data for WX4NHC as
required."

The weekly VoIPWX Net had a surge in activity last week as Tropical
Storms Ana, Bill and Claudette formed almost right on top of each other.
Macedo told the ARRL that hams, many of whom are in hurricane-prone
areas, were informed of the advisories for each tropical system. "The
Net also informally activated as Claudette made landfall as a tropical
storm in the Florida Panhandle," he explained. "The VoIP Hurricane Net
Activation Policy <http://www.voipwx.net/node/235> is to activate during
hurricanes, but will sometimes activate in the event of strong tropical
storms that are near hurricane strength."

The VoIP Hurricane Net meets every Saturday evening at 8 PM EDT (0000
UTC Sunday) on the *WX-TALK* EchoLink Conference Node: 7203/IRLP
Reflector 9219 system. When hurricanes threaten land, the Net meets and
stays active as long as required on the system with listen-only EchoLink
conferences and IRLP systems and streaming audio systems available.

From the National Hurricane Center

At 1800 UTC on Friday, August 21, the center of Hurricane Bill was
located about 290 miles (465 km) south-southwest of Bermuda and about
695 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Bill is moving
toward the northwest at a speed near 18 MPH (30 km/hr). This track is
expected to continue through Saturday. The core of Hurricane Bill is
expected to pass over open waters between Bermuda and the East Coast of
the United States early Saturday. Large swells generated by this
hurricane are affecting Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, the Bahamas and
Bermuda, moving to East Coast of the US and the Atlantic Maritimes of
Canada during the next day or two. These swells will likely cause
extremely dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents.

The Bermuda Weather Service has issued a hurricane watch and a tropical
storm warning for Bermuda. A hurricane watch means that hurricane
conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 36
hours.