With memories still fresh from historic storm-related flooding in March, hams in Hawaii were back on the air early this month after the same kind of storm, known as a “kona low” struck the region.

The activation, which began on the 8th of April, focused on the same cooperation as before between city and county emergency communicators and Hawaii's Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, or RACES, operators. Staying at their radios overnight into the 9th of April, the RACES hams ensured that traffic could be passed via voice and Winlink email on both 2 metres and the HF bands. An additional overnight shift carried the operation through to its conclusion on the 10th of April.

Throughout the activation, the hams were able to pass situational awareness traffic and assist with response coordination, making the necessary adjustments in response to varying conditions. When interference disrupted their original channel, the hams had to QSY to a new 80-metre frequency to keep long-range communication viable.

The storm, known as the Kona Low 3 weather system, came only weeks after back-to-back Kona Low storms led to Hawaii being declared a federal disaster area.