Hello to all….

At 230 PM, WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida secured operations for Hurricane Ike after its severe pounding of the Bahamas and Cuba and an activation that spanned several days. The VoIP Hurricane Net was active informally during this timeframe. Amateur Radio Operators associated with IRESC, the Internationl Radio Emergency Support Coalition, provided several critical reports via email on conditions in Cuba. A couple of key critical reports that IRESC forwarded through the efforts of Steve Richards-G4HPE, Doug Pattison-VE7XAT and several others from the Spanish Section of the IRESC team were as follows:

I’m Ramon Batista (KF4EFQ). Since This Morning I Were Lucky Getting Some Of My Friends From Puerto Padre Through The Phone And All Are Bad News, More Than The Half Of The Town Is Destroyed, All Those Old Houses Withe Zinc Or Tile Roofs Are Down, Only The Concrete And Strong Build Houses Resist The 200-230 KM/Hour Winds. Peoples Are Desbasted, And With No Hope For Help. I Had A Phone Call From David Chacon (co8dm) From Washington DC And Explain The Same Like You, His Father Mario (CO8CH) Is There And Most Of The Telephone Lines Are Down. The Malecon In Front Of The Sea Were Destroyed, The Big Hospital Lose All Glasses And Doors, There Is No Electricity Since Yesterday And The Important Telecommunication Towers Are Down Too. Here In Miami I’m Waiting For The Airports Cleareance To Plan A Trip To There In The Next Two Weeks Because This People And Especially Our Families Will Need Clothes, Medicines And Money. Today After 6:00 PM We Are Going To Talk With Our Family And We’ll Let You Know. There Is No HAM Radio Stations On Air From That Area, Only One Station From Santiago De Cuba (CO8AG) Manolo, And Is Working With Batteries (7045 KHZ). Thank You For Ask And Be Worry About That Catastrophic Situation In Cuba.

Greetings from CO2QU
Thank you to IRESC Spanish Section from all of the radio hams of Cuba for your kind gesture towards our country. At the moment hurricane IKE is leaving Cuba by the south of the province of Ciego de Avila taking course to west. This hurricane has added further devastation to the areas already hit by hurricane Gustav, Isla de la Juventud and Provincia de Pinar del rio. Many have been evacuated and have lost their homes. Thankfully, only a few lives have been lost. I am in Havana where it is currently calm, but tonight we expect change. We have activated an emergency network 40m 7,045 mhz. and in 80m 3,750 mhz Ciao and 73 Narciso Izquierdo Mata CO2QU

At the request of WX4NHC Coordinators John McHugh-K4AG and Julio Ripoll-WD4R, when Ike was over the Bahamas, a TV station chat room and feed was monitored by Mike “Sparky” Leger-N1YLQ and numerous reports including a few pictures were forwarded to the National Hurricane Center and used by hurricane specialists. Additional reports were sent in via IRESC and by monitoring the stormcarib.com storm reporting blog. The damage reports can be seen on the VoIP Hurricnae Net web site at http://www.voipwx.net via the report viewer link off the main menu of the web site.

Hurricane Ike is now over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to intensify and models are now trending northward with potential landfall and impact to the Gulf Coast of Texas some time in the Friday to Saturday timeframe. There is potential for Ike to reach major hurricane strength which is Category 3 or stronger. The VoIP Hurricane Net will stand down from any activation for the next couple of days but will likely be active formally in the Friday through Saturday timeframe as Ike threatens the Texas Gulf Coast. Advisories on Hurricane Ike can be obtained via the VoIPWXNet web site by clicking Atlantic Tropical Products off the Main Menu of the web site. They can also be found at the National Hurricane Center web site at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

At this time, the remnants of Josephine are not expected to regenerate and there are no other areas of disturbed weather of concern in the Atlantic tropics as of the 8 PM Tuesday Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of Hurricane Ike and the Tropical Atlantic. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all…

Tropical Storm Hanna was declared extratropical at 5 AM this morning and this concluded operations from WX1BOX, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Taunton, Massachusetts at that time. Hanna caused minimal Tropical Storm force conditions along the coast and pockets of significant flooding in interior Southern New England. Reports from Tropical Storm Hanna from across the Eastern Seaboard can be seen on the VoIP Hurricane Net web site at http://www.voipwx.net by clicking on the report viewer off the Main Menu of the web site.

Links to the Tropical Storm Hanna storm reports and rainfall reports from operations in New England can also be seen via the following links:

Local Storm Report from NWS Taunton
Public Information Statement on Rainfall from NWS Taunton

Hurricane Ike has pounded the Southern Bahamas with damage to homes and roofs and winds sustained of 115-135 MPH with higher gusts. Reports have been gathered from storm blogs and local television in the Bahamas. Those reports also appear on the report viewer off the Main Menu of the VoIPWXNet web site.

Hurricane Ike will be moving into Cuba tonight through mid-afternoon Tuesday. Cuba has always been a difficult area for our net to gather reports but we will be looking for any bi-lingual stations that can gather reports from HF, Cuban Shortwave Radio, local Cuban Radio and TV and deliver that information to our net. Hurricane force conditions will be affecting Eastern Cuba by around 2200 UTC today and will affect much of the country through Tuesday Afternoon.

The VoIP Hurricane Net will remain active informally to formally throughout this period looking for relays into Cuba to support WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center. WX4NHC will be active daily from 8-9 AM through 11 PM for Sunday and Monday and will likely be active through mid-afternoon Tuesday as Ike departs Cuba. The threat from Ike for the US Gulf Coast is unknown at this time and his intensity will be gauaged based on how much time is spent over Cuba and how much it can reintensify after being affected by Cuba.

On a different note, Josephine is no longer declared a tropical system at the moment but may have the potential to regenerate. This will need to be monitored.

The VoIP Hurricane Net continues to monitor the situation in the Atlantic Tropics very closely. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all….

The VoIP Hurricane Net will be activating at 6 PM ET Friday Evening for impact of Hanna across the US East Coast from the Carolinas to New England. The weekly net for this Saturday Evening has been cancelled.

Hanna is currently expected to make landfall between Southeast North Carolina and Northeast South Carolina on Friday Evening. It is not clear whether Hanna will reach hurricane strength as it makes landfall but since there is very little difference between a strong tropical storm and a minimal hurricane and the fact that the system has a very large area of tropical storm force winds, the net will activate to cover the threats of a large, strong tropical storm Friday Night through Sunday Morning. As the system approaches Southern New England, VoIP Hurricane Net operations will merge into New England SKYWARN operations and the New England Reflector system will be tied to the *WX-TALK*/9219 system when that occurs.

WX4NHC is expected to activate Friday Evening at 6 PM but could cancel their operations if Hanna does not reach hurricane strength. For Hurricane Ike, WX4NHC is preparing for operations all day on Sunday and potential for day-long activations on several days during the week. The VoIP Hurricane Net will either activate formally or informally depending on access to reporting stations in the Bahamas. This will be updated in future situation reports.

For the latest advisory information including watches and warnings, you can go to the VoIPWXNet web site and click Atlantic Tropical Products and click on the advisory information for Fay under the Atlantic Tropical Products section. You can also gather the advisory information from the National Hurricane Center web site at the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

The reporting criteria and activation policy for our net during hurricane net activations can be found on our web site at http://www.voipwx.net

Listen Only IRLP/EchoLink capability include the following systems (Please note due to rapid activation status some listen-only nodes may not be up right at noon time):

IRLP:
Reflector 9508 Sydney Australia Reflector channel 8.
Reflector 9129 New England Reflector channel 9.

EchoLink:
*KC4QLP-C* Node: 290251
*VKEMCOMM* Node: 270177
*N5API* Node: 77433
*IRESC* Node: 278173
*N1TAI* Node: 269929

A streaming audio feed has been setup thanks to the assistance of David McAnally-WD5M. This is the first time he has setup a streaming audio server so please bear with any technical difficulties. The links are listed below:

Streaming Audio Feed in MP-3 Format
Streaming Audio Feed in OGG Format

Streaming Audio Feed Direct Link without Port listing

Bob Carter-KC4QLP has also setup an online stream for up to 32 listeners at the following link:

Streaming Audio Feed from KC4QLP

An EQSO listen-only feed is also available via KC4QLP-R.

Links to the WD5M streaming audio feeds have also been provided in the Main Menu of the VoIPWXNet web site.

Again, please note that WX4NHC has tentative plans to activate at 6 PM ET Friday Evening for Hanna but could cancel those plans if Hanna does not reach hurricane strength and WX4NHC currently plans to be active Sunday Morning for Hurricane Ike with potential for addtional activations for Ike later in the week. This will be updated in future messages. Below is the typical information WX4NHC issues prior to activation of the WX4NHC Ham Station as provided by WX4NHC Coordinators, Julio Ripoll-WD4R and John McHugh-K4AG:

We request all land based stations as well as ships at sea in the areas affected to send us weather data (measured or estimated) and damage reports.

If you are in the affected area and normally monitor on a local Net on VHF, 40 or 80 meters, we would appreciate your checking into the HWN NET or EchoLink/IRLP Net once per Hour to receive the latest Hurricane Advisories and to report your local conditions.

Please do not venture outside during the hurricane to gather weather data.

Your safety is the first priority.

There are many constantly changing atmospheric variables that affect the storm’s track and strength.

Please refer to the National Hurricane Center Advisories for official information. www.nhc.noaa.gov

WX4NHC will be monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net www.hwn.org on 14.325 MHz.

Secondary HF frequencies will be 7.268 MHz and 3.950 MHz +/- QRM, should we loose propagation on 20 meters.

EchoLink “WX-Talk” Conference Room and IRLP node 9219 will also be monitored. www.voipwx.net

WX4NHC will also monitor CWOP, APRS and MADIS/MESONET Automated weather stations in the affected area.

Surface Reports using our On-line Hurricane Report form will be monitored.

Amateur Weather Enthusiasts and ON-NHC Volunteers may report directly to WX4NHC on-line.

http://www.wx4nhc.org/WX-form1.html

ON-NHC Volunteers are both Ham Radio Operators and Non-Ham weather observers that use their own weather instruments to submit “Surface Reports” directly to NHC over the Internet via the WX4NHC on-line report form. These “Surface Reports” are very important as they give Hurricane Specialists at NHC a better idea of what is actually happening on the ground level during the storm.

The WX4NHC Group continues to expand its efforts to increase the quantity and quality of surface reports to include many different modes of reception and groups of people; including HF, VHF/UHF IRLP &
EchoLink, VHF & HF APRS, CWOP NOAA Program and ON-NHC Weather Observers Network.

(see our web site for more information on these programs): www.wx4nhc.org

WX4NHC is very proud to have maintained an active Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center for the past 28 years.

We appreciate all of the volunteers who help with our efforts.

OUR MISSION: TO HELP SAVE LIVES.

—

John Mc Hugh, K4AG
Coordinator for Amateur Radio
National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC
Home page:- http://www.wx4nhc.org

Thanks to all for their continued support for the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all..

..Hanna Expected to Impact the Carolinas as a Hurricane late Friday Afternoon into Saturday Morning and Hanna has the potential to impact the Mid-Atlantic as a tropical storm on Saturday and Southern New England as a Tropical Storm late Saturday Afternoon into Midday Sunday..
..Ike Has the Potential to Affect the Bahamas as a major hurricane towards the latter half of the weekend. Threat to the US East Coast uncertain..
..Josephine is no threat to land at the present time and forecast to remain at tropical storm strength..

Hurricane Hanna is expected to impact the Carolinas as a hurricane late Friday Afternoon into Saturday Morning. Hanna, currently a large tropical storm, could intensify into a hurricane later on Thursday or Friday and is expected to make landfall in Southeast North Carolina. While Hanna may weaken slightly over North Carolina, Hanna is likely to maintain strong tropical storm status as it works its way up the US East Coast through the Delmarva and New Jersey with the potential for Hanna to impact these regions through Southern New England as a strong tropical storm.

The VoIP Hurricane Net will likely be activated some time Friday Afternoon or Evening and is likely to stay active through Satutrday. The weekly net Saturday Evening will likely be preempted by Hanna’s impact on the US East Coast.

Ike is now a major hurricane at Category 4 intensity. Ike is still over open waters but could impact portions of the Bahamas as a major hurricane towards the latter half of the weekend. Ike’s impact on the US East Coast is uncertain and will not be until some next week.

Josephine has formed in the Open Atlantic. Josephine is expected to maintain tropical storm status over the open waters of the Atlantic and is no immediate threat to any land area.

No other areas of disturbed weather are currently being monitored in the Atlantic at this time. The VoIP Hurricane Net will continue to monitor closely Hanna, Ike and Josephine. Tropical Advisories can be seen by going to the VoIPWXNet web site and clicking Atlantic Tropical Products or by going to the National Hurricane Center web site via the following link:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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Hello to all…

..VoIP Hurricane Net Deactivated to Informal Status for Any Residual Reports from Gustav, now a tropical storm, as well as for any reports from Hurricane Hanna over the Bahamas..
..Tropical Storm Ike forms over the open Atlantic. No threat to any land area until this weekend..

The VoIP Hurricane Net has been deactivated to Informal Status as any residual reports from Gustav, now a tropical storm, as well as for any reports from Hurricane Hanna over the Bahamas. In addition, Tropical Storm Ike has formed over the open Atlantic but is no threat to any land area until this weekend.

Concerning Gustav, the VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all of the reporting stations in the affected area who relayed vital weather and damage information to our net. It was a tremendous effort and led to a very active and informal net. We’d also like to thank the out of area stations that had contact in the affected area that relayed reports to our net as well. The more information we can get from other Hams we know in the affected area as well as family and friends paints a high situational awareness and allows for the information to be used as vital “disaster intelligence”.

In particular, the N5OZG-R Echolink node and the KG4VVO-R were extremely critical to operations for Gustav. We’d also like to thank N5VEI-Billy for his HF relays and the numerous other stations that supported the net on various Echolink and IRLP nodes as well as those Echolink PC user stations who supported the net. There were many that supported us and we thank every single station for every report they relayed. It was very critical to the cause of situational awareness and disaster intelligence gathering for WX4NHC and all other national agencies that were monitoring.

A complete record of information from Gustav can be seen on the VoIP Hurricane Net web site at http://www.voipwx.net by clicking the Report Viewer off the Main Menu of the web site. The direct link to the report viewer can be seen below:

VoIP Hurricane Net Report Viewer

The net will now shift into an informal monitoring mode for Hurricane Hanna and pick up any residual information on Tropical Storm Gustav. Hanna is currently over the Bahamas and is stalled out and isn’t expected to begin moving until Wednesday. Hanna could pose a threat to the portion of the US East Coast later this week or this weekend.

There are very few reporting stations in the Bahamas but there are a couple of Echolink stations as well as some other non-ham posters that could provide valuable info. Also, any Hams in the Caribbean or Florida that can relay reports from the Bahamas through Hams or any contacts from that area would be very helpful. The net will be informally monitoring Hanna on Tuesday for any information that can be gathered. Formal activation will likely be done as Hanna approaches the US East Coast later this week.

Tropical Storm Ike is out over the Atlantic Open waters and is expected to intensify into a hurricane. Ike, however, poses no threat to land until this weekend.

There is one additional area of disturbed weather that could develop into a Tropical Depression/Tropical Storm during the week. That system is just off of Africa and moving Westward. There are two other areas of disturbed weather being monitored but currently not expected to develop.

We are entering the heart of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will continue to closely monitor all these systems and keep folks posted on activation plans as best as possible during this extremely active timeframe.

Once again, thanks to all of the reporting stations and out of area stations that had relays to the affected area from Hurricane Gustav for their tremendous support. God speed and prayers for the recovery efforts that will be ongoing for Gustav. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net
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