07/12/2024

Remnants of Hurricane Beryl, now a post-tropical cyclone, were moving northeast as of early Thursday morning with heavy rain and 35 mph winds. The storm is forecast to continue its current direction as it moves through Pennsylvania, upstate New York, northern New England and Canada, moving ENE at 20 mph. Beryl was the fastest and earliest storm of the hurricane season and during its 8-day run that left behind severe damage to the Windward Islands and Mexico before making landfall in Texas.

Over 7,000 residents in New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New England  are without power. Houston is in recovery mode after the core of Hurricane Beryl passed very close to the downtown area on Wednesday, with wind gusts over 80 mph that caused massive power outages. 1.3  million customers in Texas are still facing power outages.

Amateur radio has been active since the early formation of the hurricane. The Hurricane Watch Net[1] concluded operations for Tropical Cyclone Beryl on Monday July 8, 2024, at 12:00 PM EDT (1600 UTC). Net Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said, "Solar activity was not kind to us over the past few days. Propagation on both 20 and 40 meters was horrible and iffy at times. But our dedicated team of operators banded closely together to get the job done.

"I've said this for many years, and it remains true to this day. 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," added Graves.

The VoIP Hurricane Net[2] also secured operation on Monday July 8, at 1100 AM EDT as Beryl weakened to a tropical storm. The VoIP net fielded dozens of reports from online weather stations reporting wind gusts between 50 and 98 MPH, with winds above 74 MPH being hurricane force wind gust criteria.

Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Director of Operations for the VoIP Hurricane Net, reported, "We wish to extend a special thank you to the South Coast Reflector[3] and amateur radio operator N6KNE (hopefully, we got that call sign correct) for allowing a connection into our net where close to ten amateur radio operators checked in and provided storm reports that were sent to WX4NHC," adding, "We would love to see more of this cooperation in the future with other parts of coastal areas threatened by hurricanes." WX4NHC is the amateur station at the National Hurricane Center.

The VoIP Hurricane Net also relayed reports of storm damage via social media and public safety radio feeds during the nine-hour net activation from 2 - 11 AM EDT.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center[4] predict above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year. NOAA's outlook for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30, predicts an 85% chance of an above-normal season, a 10% chance of a near-normal season and a 5% chance of a below-normal season.


[1] https://hwn.org/
[2] https://voipwx.net/
[3] http://southcoastreflector.com/
[4] https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/

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