Hurricane Watch Net Remembers and Celebrates 60 Years

In September 1965, Hurricane Betsy hit Florida, the Bahamas, and the central US Gulf Cost. The damage was nearly $1.42 billion, earning the storm the nickname Billion Dollar Betsy. Forecasting for storms like Betsy was still in its infancy.

Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, the current Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) manager, shared that amateur radio operator Gerald E. “Jerry” Murphy, K8YUW, then 28 years old, was stationed at the U.S. Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island. “During his time off, he handled countless phone patches and messages to and from military-deployed personnel as a member of the Intercontinental Amateur Radio Net (IARN) on 14.320 MHz. The public was becoming concerned,” said Graves. “In 1965, there wasn’t any access to 24-hour news and weather reports. Murphy suggested to the IARN net manager to move those interested in the storm up 5 kHz to get them off the net, and the net manager agreed. Marcy Rice, KZ5MM, located in the Canal Zone (Panama), followed Murphy, and together they established the first Hurricane Watch Net on 14.325 MHz.”

Murphy passed away in March 2025. Marcella E. Rice (Marcy) died in 1989.

(Note: membership in HWN is open in February. All amateurs, member or not, can participate by providing reports. Additionally, you can subscribe to email alerts specialized for the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.)