CQ News: Hurricane Watch Net Activates as Fiona Heads North

The following is from our friends at the Hurricane Watch Net (www.hwn.org):

 

As of 10:00 AM EDT (1400 UTC) Thursday, Fiona remains a powerful Cat 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph. The Hurricane Watch Net will activate this afternoon at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC) on our primary frequency of 14.325 MHz. We will activate our 40-meter net on 7.268 MHz at 7:00 PM EDT (2300 UTC). We will remain on 20 meters for as long as propagation will allow and remain active on 40 meters until no longer required or propagation goes away. Should Fiona make direct landfall, we will resume operations Friday at 9:00 AM EDT (1300 UTC) to assist with post-storm reports and any outgoing Health and Welfare Traffic, which would be at the direction of the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN).

 

Looking ahead, Fiona is forecast to move towards and into the Canadian Maritimes on Saturday. Therefore, the Hurricane Watch Net will activate at 9:00 AM EDT (1300 UTC) on both 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz. Once activated, we will remain in operation until no longer required.

 

As with any Net activation, we look for reporting stations that can provide us with any measured or estimated weather information that we can relay directly to the forecasters at National Hurricane Center in Miami. On Saturday, we will be supporting the Canadian Hurricane Centre with weather reports as well. Weather information we look for is maximum sustained winds, winds gusts, wind direction, barometric pressure, rainfall amount – how much over x-amount of time, storm surge, and damage.

 

As a reminder, we are available to provide backup communications to official agencies such as emergency operations centers, government and non-government agencies, and storm shelters in the affected area.

 

As always, we greatly appreciate the daily users and various nets who use 14.325.00 MHz and 7.268.00 MHz for allowing us a clear frequency. It certainly makes our job easier and I know those in the affected area appreciate it as well.

 

Thank you for keeping 14.325 and 7.268 MHz clear for HWN operations.