VoIP Hurricane Net

Hello to all…

My apologies for a late note and web posting here. Southern New England has fallen back into an active severe weather pattern and we’ve had 2 straight days of severe weather with a potential third straight day for severe weather here on Sunday. Here are some updates on Tropical Storm Cristobal off the coast of the Carolinas and newly formed Tropical Storm Dolly, which is southeast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Tropical Storm Cristobal remains a 50 MPH Tropical Storm off the coast of the Carolinas. Cristobal is expected to stay similar in strength today followed by some strengthening on Monday but is expected to remain below hurricane strength. Cristobal is expected to graze the eastern North Carolina coast with strongest part of the storm staying offshore though some strong winds, heavy rainfall and minor coastal flooding is possible along the coasts of the Carolinas where Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect. Cristobal will then pass south and east of Nantucket Island and south and east of what is known as the “40.0 North/70 West benchmark” position and should only bring high surf and waves and perhaps a bit of rainfall to the Outer Cape and Nantucket. A couple reliable models do bring Cristobal closer to the Southeast New England coast but the current consensus is for Cristobal to remain offshore. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management team continues to closely monitor the progress of Cristobal.

Tropical Storm Dolly has formed in the Western Caribbean Sea late Sunday Morning. Dolly is expected to impact the Yucatan Peninsula and emerge off the Southern Gulf of Mexico and possibly affect Mexico or Southern Texas later this week. The current official forecast keeps Dolly below hurricane strength but the potential exists for Dolly to be a hurricane particularly after impacting the Yucatan Peninsula. The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of Dolly and net activation for Dolly is possible if it reaches hurricane strength and we have stations in the affected area that can support WX4NHC with reporting from the affected area.

A brief word on Tropical Storm Bertha. Bertha is now extratropical over the North Atlantic and the last advisory was issue by the National Hurricane Center late Sunday Morning.

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 Atlantic Tropics have become very active and we have the potential for two more classified systems later today. First of all, Tropical Storm Bertha continues to churn in the North Atlantic. Bertha will remain in open waters and will lose tropical characteristics late Saturday.

Of more immediate concern is an area of disturbed weather just east of Georgia that is showing signs of organization. A Special Tropical Disturbance Statement has been issued and this system may organize and move up the US East Coast with potential impact to portions of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in the short-term with possible impact in the longer term to Southeast New England per the NWS Taunton Massachusetts Area Forecast Discussion.

Another system in the Caribbean Sea is also showing signs of organization and maybe classifed later today or Saturday. This will also have to be watched for possible land area impacts in the next few days.

See the Special Tropical Disturbance Statement issued by the National Hurricane Center below for more details:

000
WONT41 KNHC 181522
DSAAT
SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1125 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 2008

THIS STATEMENT CONCERNS TWO TROPICAL WEATHER SYSTEMS.

SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED IN THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN SEA ABOUT 400 MILES SOUTHEAST OF JAMAICA CONTINUES TO BECOME BETTER-ORGANIZED. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO INVESTIGATE THIS SYSTEM THIS AFTERNOON TO DETERMINE IF A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OR TROPICAL STORM HAS FORMED. ALL INTERESTS IN THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM AS IT MOVES WESTWARD AT 15-20 MPH. FOR INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…PLEASE CONSULT STATEMENTS FROM YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT
A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LOCATED JUST OFF THE COASTS OF GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA IS ALSO BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE CONDUCIVE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT…AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD FORM TODAY OR TOMORROW. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS SCHEDULED TO INVESTIGATE THIS SYSTEM TOMORROW…IF NECESSARY. ALL INTERESTS ALONG THE COASTS OF GEORGIA…SOUTH CAROLINA…AND NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS THIS SYSTEM MOVES
SLOWLY NORTHEASTWARD NEAR THE COAST. FOR INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…PLEASE CONSULT STATEMENTS FROM YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.

$$
FORECASTER BLAKE/KNABB

For this week’s net, we will forego a presentation once again and focus on a briefing on the tropics including reading of public advisories for any classified systems we may have by tomorrow evening. 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…

A few updates on the Atlantic Tropics since last night. Bertha has been downgraded to tropical storm status as of 8 AM ET this morning. Bertha has started to move very slowly to the northwest this morning and this may bring Bertha closer to Bermuda than currently predicted but is now weaker in intensity. Recon will be investigating Bertha later today. The VoIP Net Management team continues to monitor Bertha but activation of our net remains unlikely for Bertha.

We now have 2 additional areas of disturbed weather being monitored that were not in the tropical weather outlook from the National Hurricane Center in last night’s tropical briefing. One area is about 130 miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina and is currently moving northeast. The second area is about 1600 miles east of the Southern Windward islands. Both have the potential for additional development and will be monitored by the VoIP Hurricane Net Management team.

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…

Tonight, similar to last week, we will focus the VoIP Hurricane Net presentation on a short briefing on Hurricane Bertha. Bertha remains a Category-1 hurricane and its outer rain bands and tropical storm force winds are expected to affect Bermuda over the next couple of days but hurricane force winds are currently expected to stay away from the island. For tonight’s net we will read the latest public advisory and offer a briefing on Bertha.

In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Elida has formed but remains no threat to land. For tonight’s net, we will also provide a short briefing on Elida.

Hope to hear many folks on the net this evening. 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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For those who are D-Star Radio Users in the South Eastern US, Every Sunday night, 9 PM EDT (0100 Zulu), The SE-Dstar Weather Net takes place on d-star reflector 002, port A. This net is an open net and we invite any and all Digital Voice hams to join in. For more information on this net, please check out http://www.dstarinfo.com/Nets/SEWXNet.html. States in the net as of now, Ga., Fla., La., Tx., NC., Over 16 repeaters in the past, looking for more to join in. Dongle Users, please use the reflector to connect into the net, this helps keep the internet traffic on local D-Star sites low… Evans Mitchell; KD4EFM Alternate NCS, SE-DV-WXNET

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Hello to all…

As of the 5 AM ET/0900 UTC Monday July 7th Advisory, Bertha has intensified into a Category-1 Hurricane with Maximum Sustained Winds of 75 MPH and Bertha may reach Category Two strength over the next day or two. The path of Bertha remains uncertain as models do turn Bertha more northwestward but lack of a strong trough and weakening steering currents make recurvature out to sea still questionable but it is also remains too early to determine whether Bertha will affect any land areas. The current forecast track implies a threat to Bermuda by this weekend but that is highly uncertain.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team continues to closely monitor the progress of Hurricane Bertha. 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…

With this weekend being the 4th of July weekend, we will not have a training topic for this week’s VoIP Hurricane Prep Net. We will have a training topic for next weekend’s VoIP Hurricane Prep Net.

On this week’s prep net, we will read the latest Tropical Storm Bertha Public Advisory and give everyone the latest update on Bertha’s forecast intensity and track which is still a good 5 days from affecting any land area at the present time.

Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net! Happy Fourth of July weekend to all!

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

The second tropical depression of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season that formed west of Africa Thursday has now become Tropcal Storm Bertha. Bertha will be tracking over the open Atlantic for several days.

The VoIP Hurricane Net Management Team will closely monitor the progress of Tropical Storm Bertha. The advisory information can be found under Atlantic Tropical Products under the Main Menu of the web site. It can also be seen at the National Hurricane Center web site at 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….

The VoIP Hurricane Net Newsletter April through June 2008 edition is now posted. The newsletter has numerous feature articles on the National Hurricane Conference and the visit to WX4NHC by the VoIP Hurricane Net Management team. There are many interesting articles in this edition so please take the opportunity to read it and if you have any comments or suggestions for our newsletter editor, Richard Long-KF6BKA, please pass that feedback to Rich.

The newsletter link is listed below:
VoIP Hurricane Net Newsletter – April through June 2008

The newsletter is also listed in the VoIP Hurricane Net Newsletter Archive off of the Main Menu of the VoIPWXNet web site. 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 presentation for tonight’s VoIP Hurricane Net has been posted. For best results, please download ahead of time and save it to disk. The presentation is about 7 Meg in size. It can be found at the following link:

Hurricane Preparedness Presentation Revision Two

Please note if there is severe weather in New England this evening, the presentation may be postponed until next week’s net. Thanks to all for their continued support of the VoIP Hurricane Net!

73,Rob-KD1CY.
Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net 1
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