Amateur Radio will again be represented at the 2019 National Hurricane Conference, April 22 – 25 in New Orleans. “Improving Hurricane Preparedness” is the traditional conference theme. A series of free Amateur Radio sessions will take place on Tuesday, April 23, getting under way at 10:30 AM and continuing until 5 PM. Presenters will offer an overview of their respective organizations and discuss actions during significant hurricanes of 2017 and 2018.

National Hurricane Center (NHC) Director Ken Graham, WX4KEG, will kick off the opening session, discussing the importance of Amateur Radio surface conditions reporting. Bob Robichaud, VE1MBR, of the Canadian Hurricane Centre will talk on hurricane meteorology and offer a brief overview of the Centre. A presentation by ARRL Virgin Islands Section Manager Fred Kleber, K9VV, will focus on the response and recovery of the US Virgin Islands in the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

In the second session, NHC Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, will discuss operations of NHC’s WX4NHC. Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, will be on hand to explain how the HWN functions in hurricane response situations. He’ll also talk about personal weather stations and backup power. ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section Emergency Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, will talk about the VoIP Hurricane Net and best practices in SKYWARN for tropical systems.

National Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) Liaison Bill Feist, WB8BZH, will describe SATERN and its health-and-welfare role in hurricanes.Plans call for recording and live-streaming all presentations via YouTube. Visit www.nsradio.org/stream or or the VoIP WX Net website for more details.