Wednesday, September 25, 2024 9:30 AM Eastern Update:
The National Hurricane Center now reports that Hurricane John has dissipated into a tropical depression after hitting Mexico’s Pacific coast after making landfall about 80 miles east of the resort of Acapulco. It was downgraded on Tuesday to a tropical depression with maximum sustained wind speeds of 35 mph. Mexican authorities have discontinued all tropical storm warnings.
The National Hurricane Center also reports that Tropical Storm Helene continues to move northwest at 9 miles per hour. As of 7:00 AM Wednesday September 25, 2024, Helene is just offshore the Northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula about 60 miles east northeast of Cozumel, Mexico. Sustained winds are 70 mile per hour (mph).
The Tropical Storm Warning has been extended northward to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. On the forecast track, the center of Helene will pass near the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula this morning, move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on later today and Thursday, and reach the Big Bend coast of Florida late Thursday. Over the Southeastern U.S., Helene is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 5 to 10 inches with isolated totals around 15inches. This rainfall will likely result in areas of considerable flash and urban flooding, with areas of significant river flooding.
A tornado or two may occur tonight over parts of the western Florida peninsula and southern Alabama. The risk of tornadoes will increase on Thursday, expanding across Florida and into parts of Georgia and South Carolina.
The VoIP Hurricane Net and WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, will activate Thursday Morning into Friday Morning on the *WX_TALK* Echolink conference node: 7203/IRLP 9219 reflector system for Helene and impacts to Florida and Georgia. The net activation announcement will be posted by Wednesday Afternoon. The Hurricane Watch Net is making tentative plans to activate Thursday for what is expected to be Hurricane Helene, currently forecasted to be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall. With its fast forward speed, it is expected to remain a hurricane well into southern Georgia before weakening to a tropical storm.
HWN Activation Plans:
Thursday
20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 10:00 AM EDT (1400 UTC) until we lose propagation at night.
40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 10:00 AM EDT (1400 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Friday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily net.
Friday
20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1000 UTC).
40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC). Any change to the Hurricane Watch Net plans will be on their website, www.hwn.org, and social media page.
ARRL will report current updates and amateur radio activations as the storms move inward.
Amateur radio is responding to two different tropical events as of Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 1:00 PM Eastern.
Hurricane John
The National Hurricane Center reports that Hurricane John made landfall on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast late Monday evening about 80 miles east of the resort of Acapulco as a Category 3 storm. Winds were reported up to 120 miles per hour (mph) before the storm began weakening back to tropical storm status early Tuesday. Life-threatening flash flooding is expected across portions of southern Mexico during the next few days.
Tropical Storm Helena
Meanwhile, hurricane and storm surge watches cover much of the Gulf Coast of Florida Tuesday morning as a system churning in the Caribbean Sea was just designated as Tropical Storm Helene and is projected to strengthen into a major storm. Residents should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place and also follow the advice given by local officials.
Florida declared a state of emergency for 41 counties along and near the state’s Gulf Coast because of threats from the storm. If the storm makes landfall as a hurricane, it would be the fourth landfalling hurricane in the mainland U.S. this year, joining Beryl, Debby, and Francine.
The Hurricane Watch Net is making tentative plans to activate Thursday for what is expected to be Hurricane Helene, currently forecasted to be a Category 3 hurricane at landfall. With its fast forward speed, it is expected to remain a hurricane well into southern Georgia before weakening to a tropical storm.
HWN Activation Plans:
Thursday
- 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 10:00 AM EDT (1400 UTC) until we lose propagation at night.
- 40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 10:00 AM EDT (1400 UTC). We will remain active on this frequency throughout the day and overnight for as long as propagation allows. If propagation allows us to operate all night, we will suspend operations at 7:30 AM EDT Friday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily net.
Friday
- 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1000 UTC).
- 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC).
Any change to the Hurricane Watch Net plans will be on their website, www.hwn.org, and social media page.
ARRL will report current updates and amateur radio activations as the storms move inward.