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Posted on 09/21/2005 1:36:24 AM PDT by 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
Not quite. While Gilbert holds the Atlantic record, Typhoon Tip holds the world record at 870 mb.
The Weather Channel reports a stadium effect.
Good luck!
Jrabbit, will you post this on the Texas FR discussion board?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1488737/posts
I'll put somebody up. I'm in Jackson, MS.
TAW
I heard on the radio a while ago that the hotels and motels in DFW were, indeed, full.
If you'll check the Expedia.com link you'll see that they are, indeed, full.
For those watching the oil industry through this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1488674/posts
Maybe, what are SAPP's?
It's hard to comprehend, isn't it?
That's great work, IMO.
Considering the physical size of the storm, I'd beat feet if it were me. When it makes landfall, it will affect the entire coastline of Texas.
Incoming..... freepmail
923 mb? Daaaaaamn. Are these rapid intensifications because they couldn't get any planes into it for ~12 hours and they're just now catching up with their readings, or is this thing really tightening up this fast?
142 knots flight level is 163 mph. So still 140-145 mph ground-level, more than likely. No real increase in windspeed, but if the pressure readings are dropping this much this fast, it'll almost certainly make Category Five in the next twelve hours.
I think the folks predicting landfall as a ~130 mph weak Category Four are probably right. They usually seem to weaken a bit before landfall as they close in on shore. Still, though, this thing's frightening.
}:-)4
You could probably get on I-20 and head to central Alabama. I was trying to find info on I-10 and I found a Wikipedia entry that said I-10 was in pretty bad shape still.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_10
Rmember to check the Crown link
http://www.crownweather.com/tropical.html#AL18
Oh yeah the leftist are lining up to blame Bush.... You can count on it...
For those playing along at home:
Annular hurricanes have a large, symmetric eye surrounded by a ring of intense convection, with hardly any convection (i.e. bands) elsewhere. These types of storms are not prone to fluctuations in intensity related to the eyewall replacement cycles typically seen in intense tropical cyclones.
Statistics show that forecasters significantly underestimate the wind velocities following the time when the hurricane peaks. The errors occur because this type of hurricane maintains intensity longer than usual.
Less than 1% of Atlantic cyclones exhibit annular characteristics.
I would be cautious about the Miss/Ala sections of I 10. I would avoid it until absolutely positive everything was clear.
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