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

[NautiNurse]

CNN calling her a 5. 150 mph.

Did CNN every figure out where Switzerland is located?

[OB1kNOb]

Is this the surge map you're searching for?

http://www.kfdm.com/hurricane_surgemap.shtml

[dirtboy]

Check out this infrared image:

mash this

Notice the line of clouds extending out before the storm? Katrina had the same thing - and it pointed in the direction she ended up going.

In this case, it's pointing to the NE side of Matagorda Bay, or Palacios.

[NautiNurse]

Glad to hear your Houston friend will be nearby during the storm. I have a feeling you will be getting together in the next day or two...

[johnb838]

Hearings would be a good thing... if they weren't "gotcha" and instead were a study in how things are done in Texas, lessons learned, and how to apply them elsewhere. Unfortunately, if they're done in Congress, we already know that won't be the case.

[sissyjane]

Holy Cow!! Awesome picture.

[No Blue States]

NWS local weather hurricane statement Houston area. (also tells of high tides thurs eve and fri eve )

NWS Houston statement

Ps: Always hit reload to make sure its most recent)

[dfwgator]

Then the Dems can't accuse him of being indifferent.

They'll just say he only did it because it's his (and Rove's) home state.

[steveegg]

Thanks for digging up that video.

[don-o]

I heard on Rush that harry reid is going to call for hearings of why the response in Texas is so much more organized than with Katrina in Louisiana

"Stuck on stupid." I love Gen Honore. It would not surprise me to see him pull his pistol and threaten to shoot the next meathead who stays stuck.

[dogbyte12]

Austin will get alot of rain. It should be in the Northwest quadrant which is good, but it will not be a great day to be outdoors. There will be heavy thunderstorms, and gusty winds in Austin. It should be relatively safe, but not ideal for this outdoor event.

[conservativewasp]

Close, it is the living hell that follows the criminal decision to block relief aid from reaching a stadium full of stranded people. see Blanco

[Howlin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadium_effect

[Zechariah_8_13]

I think your sister will be fine, but I won't be surprised if ACL cancels at least some of the shows. I also won't be surprised if some shows still happen. If not outside, then inside other clubs.

I think she should still come. It might rain, but Austin's a great town regardless, and I bet she'd still have a good time.

[johnb838]

Yes, it was so beautiful, I was going to Christmas eve service at Church and the snow was falling and it was storybook pretty... it's such a pleasant memory.

[PigRigger]

Rita's Stadum effect:

[Diddle E. Squat]

Hi, I saw your ping on the prior locked thread. Thanks, all my family is now safely evacuated and hunkered down in the official Squat Hurricane Bunker (Dallas.) Still buying a few more supplies in case they have to return to the worst, but property should be ok (except for some wind damage) if the hurricane follows the forecast to Matagorda Bay (halfway between Galveston and Corpus Christi.)

[montanus]

besides they generally use .90 as the multiplier...

Yeah, I know, but for whatever reason they ain't doing it this time. I was doing the multiply by .9 thing and was getting it wrong. But then I remembered there being a reason why very strong hurricanes use the .85 multiplier. I don't remember the precise reason why .85 multiplier is used, but it may have something to do with the low pressuring making the standard flight level much lower.

[Xenalyte]

According to their site - http://www.aclfestival.com/ - it's still on.

[NautiNurse]

Notice the line of clouds extending out before the storm? Katrina had the same thing - and it pointed in the direction she ended up going.

You mean like this photo of Katrina...wasn't that eerie!

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