Hurricane Earl made landfall near Belize City, Belize, during the early morning hours as a category 1 storm. Earl has since weakened to a tropical storm. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) plans to resume net operations on 14.325 MHz on Thursday, August 4, at 1200 UTC for Earl. The HWN activated on August 3 as Tropical Storm Earl was headed toward Central America. On its current path, Earl will pass into Southern Mexico by early Friday.

“We will resume net operations for the purpose of gathering post-storm reports and offering emergency and priority traffic assistance,” explained HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV. The net typically closes once a storm has made landfall.

As of 1100 UTC, the Tropical Storm Earl was about 90 miles west of Belize City, with maximum sustained winds of 65 MPH. The Government of Mexico has discontinued all warnings. The Government of Belize has replaced the hurricane warning with a tropical storm warning for coastal areas.

On Wednesday, the HWN activated simultaneously on both its primary frequency of 14.325 MHz and its backup frequency of 7.268 MHz, because of poor 20 meter propagation.

The Belize Amateur Radio Club (BARC) was tracking the storm as it approached Belieze. BARC announced that its members will be using the using the frequencies of 7.177 MHz and 147.000 MHz to handle emergency traffic within Belize, in addition to other frequencies “for external contact where necessary.”

The Caribbean Emergency and Weather Net (CEWN) meets on 3.815 MHz. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN) meets on 14.325 MHz. — Thanks to HWN and to Emil Rodriguez, V31ER, President, Belize Amateur Radio Club