The Hurricane Watch Net, founded by Jerry Murphy, (Amateur radio call sign K8YUW), was formed in 1965 during Hurricane Betsy, as an informal group of radio amateurs who recognized a need to provide communications to
and from hurricane affected areas. The Hurricane Watch Net has continued to operate during every hurricane threatening land in the Atlantic, Caribbean Basin, and Gulf of Mexico, and has acquired a formal, direct association, with the National
Hurricane Center in Miami, FL since that time. To this day, the Hurricane Watch Net activates on 14.325.00 MHz whenever a hurricane is within 300 miles of projected landfall or becomes a serious threat to a populated area.
The Hurricane Watch Net consists of a group of licensed Amateur Radio Operators trained and organized to provide essential communications support to the National Hurricane Center during times of Hurricane emergencies. Our primary mission is
to disseminate tropical cyclone advisory information to island communities in the Caribbean, Central America, along the Atlantic seaboard of the U.S., and throughout the Gulf of Mexico coastal areas. We also collect observed or measured weather
data from amateur radio operators in the storm affected area as well as any post storm damage, and convey that information to the Hurricane Forecasters in the National Hurricane Center via the amateur radio station in the center (WX4NHC).
For those of you who may not possess an amateur radio license, we invite you to monitor net activities on 14.325 MHz, which is available on many popular general coverage receivers. Amateur Radio operators who desire to participate are encouraged
to visit our
membership discussion and note the requirements particular to becoming a member of our organization.
The Hurricane Watch Net is a group of nearly 40 amateur radio operators strategically disbursed from Toronto, out to Bermuda, throughout the Caribbean Sea, Central America, Mexico and across the continental USA. We are not housed in a single
location, as some of our followers believe; rather, we are located such that we can provide a continuous path of communications from storm-affected areas to the forecasters in the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
About Our Website
You have arrived at the web site sponsored by the Hurricane Watch Net, Inc., a non profit corporation established in 1965 for the purpose of providing support to the National Hurricane Center during times of tropical storm emergencies. Through our associated network of Amateur Radio Operators, emergency communications support to the NHC is of primary interest. This web site is provided as a means to keep our viewing public informed through a plethora of tropical weather information supplied directly from the National Weather Service and NOAA organizations. Additionally, we provide some information pertaining to the physical makeup and function of the Hurricane Watch Net. We hope we have succeeded in fulfilling your needs as you browse through the pages herein.
For those not familiar with the site, we become quite active with constant updates once hurricane season begins. The Eastern Pacific season commences May 15 and the official Atlantic/Caribbean season on June 1. Both seasons end November 30. We highlight active storm data in the "Active Storms" window below, with links provided to guide you to various forms of information. All of that information is supplemented through those links you see in the menu list on the left of this page. Be sure to notice and take advantage of the e-mail subscription option if you desire immediate receipt of official tropical storm bulletins.
Thanks for visiting our site. We hope you enjoy and appreciate all that we have provided here.
