Hurricane Watch Net Marks 60 Years of Service

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Hurricane Watch Net Marks 60 Years of Service

The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) celebrates its 60th anniversary of providing critical communications support to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and communities impacted by hurricanes.

As Hurricane Betsy was pummeling the Caribbean on Labor Day weekend 1965, a ham radio operator started hearing calls for information from operators in the Bahamas. Jerry Murphy, K8YUW, sprang into action. He began relaying surface data and storm conditions to help those in the path.

That first net paved the way for what would become the Hurricane Watch Net.

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Resilience Through Amateur Radio for National Preparedness Month 2025

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Resilience Through Amateur Radio for National Preparedness Month 2025

September is National Preparedness Month, which is a good time to look at your personal, family, and community resilience levels. For 2025, the National Preparedness Month theme is “Preparedness Starts at Home.” 

Amateur radio is a valuable resource for communication and community service before and during times of crisis, and can be a significant factor in your home’s level of preparedness.

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Hams Help Sonoma Springs Residents with GMRS

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In one California county, radios are becoming more and more of a safety net.

In Sonoma County, California, floods, wildfires and earthquakes are among the best reasons for becoming a radio operator. With that in mind, the county's Department of Emergency Management has entered the second year of a three-year program that includes helping more Sonoma Springs area residents to get licensed and get on the air. The initiative has been funded through a $70,000 federal grant.

Emergency management officials are now preparing for training sessions in October that will prepare area residents for an exam leading toward a license to use handheld radios, especially at times when cellular telephone networks fail. The radios are part of General Mobile Radio Services, or GMRS, a licensed service operating between 462 MHz and 467 MHz. The county is coordinating with amateur radio operators in the North Bay Communications Cooperative and its Auxiliary Communications System. The goal is to coordinate frequencies so that the GMRS users can work seamlessly within the broader emergency communications system.

“No matter what happens, you have something that will work.”
— Nancy Brown, Emergency management specialist

The focus is on residents in the community of Sonoma Springs, which is classified as an evacuation zone when there are wildfires, but participants who live outside the area are also welcome to enrol.

The county's program can supply as many as 175 of the radios to participants who successfully complete the program.