Francine update September 10, 2024 Noon Eastern:
ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, just participated in a call with the National Weather Service Shreveport, Louisiana Field Office. “Our partners at NWS are closely monitoring the situation and preparing Louisiana for multiple possibilities, that each could change as the situation unfolds,” he said.
ARRL members and Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) volunteers in the path of the storm should prepare for impacts.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida reports this morning that tropical storm Francine is likely to become a hurricane today, Tuesday September 10, 2024. A hurricane warning has been extended eastward along the Louisiana coast. The storm is now about 125 miles southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande river and 395 miles south-southwest of Cameron, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour.
A Tropical Storm Warning is now in effect for the Louisiana coast east of Grand Isle to the mouth of the Pearl River, including metropolitan New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain, and Lake Maurepas.
The Hurricane Watch Net will be active Wednesday morning.
Current Activation Plans:
Wednesday
• 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 9:00 AM EDT (1300 UTC) until we lose propagation at night.
• 40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 9:00 AM EDT (1300 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight, if needed, for as long as propagation allows or until 5:00 AM EDT (1000 UTC).
They closely monitor the track of Francine and make adjustments as needed. Any changes to this plan will be announced on their website (www.hwn.org), and on their social media pages.
WX4NHC, the amateur radio station at the National Hurricane Center will be activated Wednesday September 11th at 9am EDT for Hurricane Francine’s forecast track affecting the Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.
We expect to be active until approximately 9pm EDT, or a few hours past the forecast Landfall.
WX4NHC will be On-The-Air on the Hurricane Watch Net frequency 14.325 MHz most of the time and 7.268 MHz depending on propagation.
WX4NHC will also be on VoIP Hurricane Net (IRLP node 9219 / EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203).
WX4NHC will also be monitoring WinLink and Online reports. Please send or relay any Surface Reports (weather data, flooding, damage) to the Hurricane Nets or using any of the available modes listed.
WX4NHC On-line Hurricane report Form
Hurricane On-line Report Form (fiu.edu)
ARRL is also closely monitoring several other potential areas of development in the Caribbean.