As Hurricane Kyle, a Category 1 hurricane, makes its way up the Eastern Seaboard, WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) and the VoIP Hurricane Net (VoIPWXNet) plan to activate. According to the National Weather Service, Hurricane Kyle is expected to impact the coast of Maine, working its way up to the Canadian Maritimes around 5 PM EDT (9 PM UTC) Sunday evening. HWN is set to activate at 5 PM, the VoIP Hurricane Net will activate formally at 4 PM with informal operations for SKYWARN covering most of Sunday; WX4NHC will activate at 6 PM on Sunday.

HWN Manager Dave Lefavour, W7GOX, said the Net will operate on their usual frequency of 14.325 MHz. "We will be providing the latest storm bulletins and collecting real time weather data from hams in the affected area for relay to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida," Lefavour said." The Net plans to operate until band closes due to propagation loss. This schedule is subject to change depending on storm forecast wind and track predictions."

WX4NHC will be monitoring the Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz. Secondary HF frequencies will be 7.268 MHz and 3.950 MHz +/- QRM, should we lose propagation on 20 meters. EchoLink "WX-Talk" Conference Room and IRLP node 9219 will also be monitored. WX4NHC will also monitor CWOP, APRS and MADIS/MESONET Automated weather stations in the affected area. Surface Reports using our Online Hurricane Report form will be monitored.

"We request all land based stations, as well as ships at sea in the areas affected, to send us weather data (measured or estimated) and damage reports," said WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R. "If you are in the affected area and normally monitor on a local Net on VHF, 40 or 80 meters, we would appreciate your checking into the HWN NET or EchoLink/IRLP Net once per hour to receive the latest Hurricane Advisories and to report your local conditions."

The VoIP Hurricane Net conducted their weekly prep net on Saturday evening, focusing on preparations for the Hurricane Kyle activation, said VoIP Hurricane Net Director of Operations Rob Macedo, KD1CY. "We had stations from the National Weather Service office in the Gray, Maine SKYWARN program on the system, and they will be assisting with gathering reports from their area and from the NWS office in Caribou. We will also start working on EchoLink and IRLP contacts in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, as the strongest winds may occur along and to the east of the track."

The National Weather Service reported that at 5 PM AST on Saturday, Kyle's center was about 315 miles west-northwest of Bermuda and about 485 miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 MPH with higher gusts. Some additional strengthening is possible during the next 24 hours