Sunday, October 6, 2024 9:00 PM Eastern Update:
Hurricane Milton was located just over 300 miles west-northeast of Progreso, Mexico, and 835 miles west-southwest of Tampa, Florida with winds of 100 miles per hour. Hurricane Milton was moving in an east-southeast direction at 6 mph and is forecasted to arrive near Tampa, Florida on Wednesday as at least a Category 3.
The Hurricane Watch Net is making tentative plans to activate on Tuesday afternoon for Hurricane Milton. The current forecast, issued at 5:00 PM EDT Sunday is calling for Milton to become a powerful Category 4 Hurricane with sustained winds of 145 miles per hour. This is the same strength Helene was at landfall a week ago. Additionally, Milton is expected to be at least a Cat 2 Hurricane after crossing Florida and entering the Atlantic Ocean. Those in Bermuda need to keep a close eye on Milton as this storm could possibly affect the island on Saturday.
Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Tentative Activation Plans:
Tuesday (Line Up Reporting Stations, EOCs, Storm Shelters)
· 20 meters: 14.325 MHz (USB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 UTC) until we lose propagation at night.
· 40 meters: 7.268 MHz (LSB) at 5:00 PM EDT (2100 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 Wednesday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net.
Wednesday (Landfall Day)
· 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1100 UTC) and remain active until we lose propagation at night.
· 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 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 Thursday to allow the Waterway Net to conduct their daily Net.
Thursday (Post Storm Reports, Emergency Traffic, Health & Welfare Traffic.
· 20 meters: we will resume operations on 14.325 MHz at 7:00 AM EDT (1100 UTC).
· 40 meters: we will resume operations on 7.268 MHz at 8:30 AM EDT (1230 UTC).
Any change to these plans will be posted on www.hwn.org, and the HWN social media pages.
As with any Net Activation, if you are to be in the affected area of Milton, please take all necessary precautions to protect your family and yourself! If are in a position to safely do so, we would love to have check in with us and provide your observed weather information. While we greatly appreciate measured data, we gladly accept estimated weather data as well. We relay that data to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. This information is extremely important to the forecasters as it gives them more information as to what the storm is or is not doing. It also helps them to provide a more accurate forecast!
On Sunday October 6, 2024, at 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Milton was located by NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft near latitude 22.6 North, longitude 94.9 West. Milton has been moving slowly eastward overnight, and an eastward to east-northeastward motion is forecast during the next couple of days, followed by a faster northeastward motion.
On the forecast track, Milton is forecast to move across the Gulf of Mexico and approach the west coast of the Florida Peninsula by midweek.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 60 miles per hour (MPH) with higher gusts. Steady to rapid strengthening is forecast during the next few days.
Milton could become a major hurricane while it moves across the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the center.
Rainfall amounts of 5 to 8 inches, with localized totals up to 12 inches, are expected across portions of the Florida Peninsula and the Keys through Wednesday night. This rainfall brings he risk of flash, urban, and areal flooding, along with minor to moderate river flooding.
In addition to Milton, the NHC is also watching Hurricane Kirk and Hurricane Leslie, strong storms that could have additional impact in the Gulf of Mexico and the west coast of Florida.
Amateur radio operators will also be ready as these storms move quickly towards landfall.