Hurricane Dean has now been upgraded to a category 4 hurricane and is headed for the Gulf of Mexico. Several amateur radio nets have now been activated, and all the net information can be found at http://www.hwn.org/
Dean looks like it will make landfall around Cozumel and then pass on into the gulf where it should strengthen again before hitting landfall somewhere around Brownsville, TX, according to the more recent forecasts from NOAA and the National Weather Service. Timing of this storm is interesting for the amateur radio crowd since this is the weekend for the large ARRL National Convention in Huntsville, AL. A large number of radio operators go to the Huntsville hamfest each year but this year a larger number will be making the trip because ARRL’s convention going on at the same time. Many hams I know in the Alabama gulf coast have already left the gulf area to go to Huntsville, but all will be keeping an eye on Dean this weekend from up north. 73, KI4WLR
