The ARRL reports on the role of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) in response to tropical storm Eta

The ARRL says:

Tropical storm Eta, lingering off the west coast of Florida, was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane at 1235 UTC today [Wed Nov 11], before weakening to a tropical storm by 1800 UTC. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported heavy rains and gusty winds across west-central Florida. As of 1800 UTC, Eta was 115 miles southwest of Tampa with maximum sustained winds of 70 MPH with higher gusts — just shy of Category 1 hurricane status — moving north-northeast at 10 MPH. On its current track, Eta will move closer to — but just offshore — the west-central Florida coast today and tonight before moving inland over the northern portion of the Florida peninsula on Thursday. Eta is expected to continue northeastward into the Atlantic late Thursday or early Friday.

"To say this 2020 hurricane season has been a busy one is an understatement!” said Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV. He cited the NHC’s 1500 UTC discussion that suggested Eta had peaked in intensity, and that an eye feature is no longer evident in radar or passive microwave satellite imagery.

"However, there still remains a band of strong convection in the northeastern quadrant that contains Doppler radar velocity values of 80 – 88 knots between 6,000 and 9,000 feet, which corresponds to equivalent surface winds of at least 65 knots,” the NHC earlier discussion continued. "As long as that feature persists, hurricane-force winds are possible along immediate coastal areas within the hurricane watch area.”

The Hillsborough County ARES/RACES group in the ARRL West Central Florida Section (WCF) has been requested to staff five shelters, Section Manager Darrell Davis, KT4WX, told ARRL. "Other counties here in the ARRL West Central Florida Section are on standby as well. A regional SKYWARN net has been activated on the NI4CE repeater system.

Read the full ARRL story at
http://www.arrl.org/news/eta-isn-t-done-yet-florida-ares-group-asked-to-staff-shelters

Hurricane Watch Net
https://www.hwn.org/