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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
You're welcome. That thing is scary even out of season.
I thought it was the CYA for him...
I joined this thread late. I assume jpsb was convinced to evacuate. His house is almost certainly going to be destroyed. He's right on the edge of Galveston Bay.
That was after it had become a FUBAR.
Remember, FUBAR first, then CYA.
I can personally verify 18 - 20' surge from the Bay on Bay Front Rd.
Fox says between Corpus Christi and Galveston.
Maybe more like being in Jackson Mississippi. Austin and Jackson are both about 150 miles from the coast. Katrina was a CAT 1 when the eye went over (or very close to) Jackson, MS. Most of Jackson lost power for several days. No power, no festival. Being in a hotel with no power in a strange city would suck IMHO. This shows the power of Katrina (and maybe Rita). Usually these storms are not still a Hurricane when they get that far inland. OTOH, if the storm misses Austin, or is weak by the time it gets there you may be okay. Kind of a crap shoot I guess.
Memphis (where I live) is 400 miles north of New Orleans, and 70,000 homes lost power here, although not for more than a couple of days. Part of that is because we have so many giant oak trees. When they fall they knock lines down and it takes a while to cut them up and re-string the lines. I doubt Austin has the same tree issues we have.
I would cancel and stay away, but that's just me.
The good thing is that it's not that hard to evac. Houston only has so many ways out and a helluvalotta people.
How about the NHC? (they combine them all for an average and are the most accurate imo)
Katrina:
Ps: I know thats not the question you asked but it the only model I put much stock in. Just showing you how accurate they were 3 days out on Katrina. ;)
Why are they evacuating so early. They should wait until about 24 hours out and then urge the citizens to leave. Those zany alarmists in Texas!
I just heard Shep say the storm is at 140 mph. MSNBC SAYS 150 MPH.
LATEST RECON INDICATES RITA IS A CAT 5 HURRICANE
http://www.freerepublic.com/^http://home.accuweather.com/index.asp?partner=accuweather
Houston is still probably going to evacuate a million people or so.
Which means traffic only slightly worse than the average evening rush hour for them.
The King Ranch Is Friggin' HUGE! It's big enough to swallow up a hurricane.
I think it wants Teddy back.
That explains it...
freeper from Nj posted that twice here and no one seemed to see it. Accuweather is taking the position that it's already a CAT 5
Interesting action in the commodity markets today. November natural gas was up $0.55 earlier today but is now down $.04, while Nov gasoline future were up $0.13 and are now up only $.05. Those commodity traders stay on top of the weather news minute by minute, so this makes me wonder if Rita is turning more to the west and will miss the oil and gas production platforms. But it looks like there's still some concern about Rita damaging oil refineries on the Texas cost.
Shep's using this morning's info...
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