Update: Category 5 Hurricane Rita - Live Thread, Part II

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Category 3 Hurricane Rita became the fifth major hurricane of the 2005 season during the night. Hurricane Rita threaded the needle through the Florida Straits and moved into the Gulf of Mexico. Storm damage in the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula was light, with scattered power outages, scattered tornados, and mild to moderate flooding.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect for Galveston County TX and New Orleans. Additional evacuation orders in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area are anticipated throughout the day.

Crude oil prices reacted as oil producers shut down and evacuated workers from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The following links are self-updating:

Public Advisory Currently published every 3 hours 5A, 8A, 11A, 2P, etc. ET
NHC Discussion Published every six hours 6A, 11A, 6P, 11P
Three Day Forecast Track
Five Day Forecast Track

Rita Forecast Track Archive
Forecast Models
Buoy Data Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Buoy Data Western Gulf of Mexico
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston

Category	Wind Speed	Barometric Pressure	Storm Surge	Damage Potential
Tropical Depression	< 39 mph < 34 kts			Minimal
Tropical Storm	39 - 73 mph 34 - 63 kts			Minimal
Hurricane 1 (Weak)	74 - 95 mph 64 - 82 kts	28.94" or more 980.02 mb or more	4.0' - 5.0' 1.2 m - 1.5 m	Minimal damage to vegetation
Hurricane 2 (Moderate)	96 - 110 mph 83 - 95 kts	28.50" - 28.93" 965.12 mb - 979.68 mb	6.0' - 8.0' 1.8 m - 2.4 m	Moderate damage to houses
Hurricane 3 (Strong)	111 - 130 mph 96 - 112 kts	27.91" - 28.49" 945.14 mb - 964.78 mb	9.0' - 12.0' 2.7 m - 3.7 m	Extensive damage to small buildings
Hurricane 4 (Very strong)	131 - 155 mph 113 - 135 kts	27.17" - 27.90" 920.08 mb - 944.80 mb	13.0' - 18.0' 3.9 m - 5.5 m	Extreme structural damage
Hurricane 5 (Devastating)	Greater than 155 mph Greater than 135 kts	Less than 27.17" Less than 920.08 mb	Greater than 18.0' Greater than 5.5m	Catastrophic building failures possible

Previous Threads:
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[yield 2 the right]

You are right, it hit that just hours before it weakened somwhat at 1st LA(near mouth of the Miss. River) landfall on Aug. 29th. IIRC Andrew was at 918-920 at landfall when it hit South Florida in Aug. 1992..

[AggieMom x 3]

Thanks. I had heard the thurs night game rumor. Guess those season tickets will be collectors items only now! Good luck on no school for Friday!!

[knak]

Can anyone direct me to somewhere that tells what parts of Houston are being evacuated. My dad lives in Southwest Houston near the Braes Bayou. Sorry haven't had time to keep up with news.

[Black Tooth]

Cell phones are overwhelmed. Another reason to get your ham radio license!

Bump that. General class here.

[mjwise]

I for the most part agree. It might briefly beat Katrina and hit sub-900 pressures (especially considering the absolutely insane pressure drops we've seen today) but will not maintain that for long. Tip was really in a category by itself and there's not enough water in the Gulf to duplicate it, I think.

[ekwd]

Dallas is nearly 300 miles north of Galveston.

[laz]

They are doing it because that is what we ALL do every single time, you dolts.

All except for Louisiana. And history will record that.

[jacquej]

since we are protected, guarded, and totally loved by our two dogs, I am so happy to hear that people are allowed to evacuate with crated pets...

and for you dog people out there, this is a very good reason to get your pets "crate trained"... which isn't at all hard to do. If they love their crates, they will be much happier about the "strangeness" of evacuation.

Best long term way to crate train dogs is to sneak wonderful smelly "treats" in their crate when they aren't looking. They discover all on their own that the crate is the place where mysterious goodies just magically appear.

After that, it is time to give them all of their food in their crates... they see the crate as "the place" to go for food..

After they get used to that, then you can teach the command, "go to your crate", with a extra special treat promptly given. After they get that concept, move the crate to a different location, repeat...

Once they get that "go to your crate" isn't place specific, then you start telling them to go to their crate when strangers come to the door, when you are having dinner, etc... and do not do the tasty treat until they learn to be "quiet" in the crate...

The crate then becomes a "safe place" in their lil doggie heads. Never crate a dog as a punishment. Never crate a dog for long periods of time. Make sure they have a favorite toy, or blanket, in their crate...

Just some suggestions... and make sure you spend money on a crate. The cheaper wire crates will not take a panicky dog with strong jaws. And, I prefer the tougher wire crates, because they have better ventilation in hot temperatures. These can collapse for travel, and can always be covered with a blanket if the dog needs a sense of security...

[JFC]

while you all have some time at keyboard.

Email cnn... they are saying Protesting Mom and Hurricane taking the heat off Bush and Iraq.

Email that slob and tell him ... we are supporting President Bush. He is not likely to read our emails.. but bombard him @ caffertyfile@cnn.com

[Howlin]

I pray that you are right. If there is justice, we will see the truth.

[NautiNurse]

Just checked and found a special weather statement. Expect very fast moving cells with 40mph winds. May be as frequent as every 10 minutes through 6PM.

[AliVeritas]

Ever since the Shehadist stepped her satanic hoof into Texas...

[Sam Cree]

"They are so clueless on what is going on..."

Exactly. What gets me is their attitude of smug assurance that they stand on the high moral ground. As if advocating total government, which is what they do, could be interpreted as moral. Yet they are so sure of it.

[Dane]

NOW, even though we know that Nagin and Blanco were idiots...everyone will just remember BUSH being blamed by the idiot media and Landrieu.

Unless you let that happen, which by your above remarks you obviously are.

Texas Republican govt. vs. democrat nagin/blanco/landrieu govt.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Stay safe hummingbird! MSNBC just showed all the pets brought in from NO waiting to reunite with their families. I know they are confused and scared in those cages. It was so sad to watch.

[steveegg]

New Vortex Data Message report -

Vortex Data Message
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


000
URNT12 KNHC 212027
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 21/19:36:50Z
B. 24 deg 21 min N
  086 deg 21 min W
C. 700 mb 2360 m
D. 125 kt
E. 053 deg 009 nm
F. 134 deg 161 kt
G. 048 deg 016 nm
H. EXTRAP  914 mb
I.   8 C/ 3063 m
J.  27 C/ 3042 m
K.   2 C/ NA
L. CLOSED
M. C20
N. 12345/ 7
O. 0.02 / 1  nm
P. AF300 1418A RITA         OB 11
MAX FL WIND 161 KT NE QUAD 19:32:00 Z
SLP EXTRAPOLATED FROM 700 MB

[Howlin]

If I was Gloria, I'd be moritifed to see my Sissy Boy whimpering on national TV.

I mean, there is NO crying in hurricanes. :-)

[sinkspur]

Are you listening to the lady (with kids in background) in DFW who is not leaving cause her hubby (cop) has to go to work at 6 p.m.? She was crying. Now that's a cop.

Why would anybody leave DFW? We're going to get some high wind and rain, but, hell, we get that stuff in thunderstorms in April and May on a regular basis.

[NautiNurse]

At the top of the thread, under Additional Resources, KHOU has evac info county by county.

[AliVeritas]

I guess we should find out how wide Rita is.