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]

Wow...I'm not even sure where to begin. Let's start with...I don't know you well enough around here to tell when you are exaggerating. Second, there are no oil fields on the Atlantic coast, and hurricanes cause great consternation there too. Third, your profile says you used to live in Texas, and now you hang out at home distributing your investments. That's nice for you, and I hope you ride your bicycle to the corner market for groceries rain or shine.

[tcrlaf]

21 Foot Waves ALREADY!

Buoy 42001 is reporting: MID GULF 180 nm South of Southwest Pass, LA

Wind Direction (WDIR): N ( 10 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD): 25.3 kts
Wind Gust (GST): 31.1 kts
Wave Height (WVHT): 21.7 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD): 16 sec
Average Period (APD): 9.8 sec
Mean Wave Direction (MWDIR): ESE ( 111 deg true )
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 29.75 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY): -0.07 in ( Falling )
Air Temperature (ATMP): 84.6 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP): 84.9 °F
Dew Point (DEWP): 79.9 °F
Heat Index (HEAT): 98.1 °F

[Ramius]

The economy is not freaking out. You are.

The economy is, and will continue to be just fine.

[N8VTXNinWV]

Looks like it's going over Waco, too! Prayers for you all...my parents and one sister live in Waco. Be safe!

[burzum]

In my previous post I should have said, the area that will experience hurricane force winds decreases, not that the level decreases. Sorry for any confusion.

[Howlin]

Bastardi said they were predicting this last week.

I heard him say that myself.

[Dog Gone]

New track is very bad news. Hoping for a shift west or south.

Are you still sitting in San Leon? You should be in the process of sorting out what stuff you want to save and what stuff you want to see in the Gulf and then getting your butt out of there.

Seriously. A Cat 4 or Cat 5 storm anyplace east of Corpus will produce a storm surge you don't want.

[flowergirl]

Thanks:)

[dirtboy]

No I don't but your industry needs to find a solution for this foreign energy dependence, without excuse.

Words fail me.

[half-cajun]

We were supposed to leave from Katy this afternoon to go to Baton Rouge. However, the traffic looks so horrible we decided to go in the middle of the night. It may be just as bad then, but at least the kids will be asleep.

[Michael Goldsberry]

I have finally made it to Sugar Land from Galveston. That normally takes a little over an hour. Today it took four and a half hours.

Houston area FReepers... I-45 is a parking lot. HWY 6?, forget it. Even Beltway 8 was first gear only.

Good news: All tollways and HOV lanes are free for general use with no fee.

The Galveston bridge will be flipped to all lanes outbound tonight at six, same time the mandatory evacuation begins.

The Bolivar ferry has stopped service until further notice.

... where's that beer...

[tobyhill]

The people will leave but the compound in anger is already developing and you are exactly right, people shouldn't have to worry about it. No I don't hope that but it's inevitable with an industry that bases profit over disaster.

[shezza]

Hey, carinafox5 -- it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and lay the groundwork with your sister, just in case. That way you can make your last-minute decision without a worry of perhaps imposing on her, and if you're still wavering, having made those plans in advance might encourage you to go ahead (and keep baby safely out of harm's way). Besides, why can't you just decide to go visit your sister anyway, just because you want to? ;o) I'm sure she'd love to see her adorable nephew, right?

Knowing storms of this size can easily spawn tornadoes, I'd rather be in a brick apartment building than a lightweight manufactured home. (We had tornadoes from Katrina all the way up here in Central Virginia. It's not being silly at all to plan for a "what if" scenario.)

My motto: Better safe than sorry.

[laz]

Tell me there's not such a thing as a cat 6... right?

Nope. Cat 5 is open-ended. However, despite the fact that I really need to take a nap, I fear that if I do, I'll wake up to find out they created a Category 6 just for Rita. LOL

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Your original post on this thread was unwelcome. If you want to pitch in and help, go gas up your car. And give the $100 that you saved to the Salvation Army.
Nitwit

[Txsleuth]

I heard a local radio talk show host play the sound of a presser with Honore...and they asked about going to the Convention Center..again...

He said, he is NOT going to follow orders by Nagin or Blanco to have people go to the Convention Center again...

Then used the "stuck on stupid" line again and talked about people NOT coming back to NO...and the other ones, LEAVE. LOL

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I've got ZZ Top's song Lagrange running through my head...I'be been through it...Not a lot to look at. Ate at the Dairy Queen I believe...(I've eaten my way across Texas at Dairy Queens, though....I might be confused...)

[Alexis the Bengal Kitty]

If you are talking about I 45 out of Galveston, it is because they have not started the mandatory evacuation. That starts at 6PM, and they open both sizes of I 45 out of Galveston.

[steveegg]

Glad to see you're inland. Now, how could you forget the beer? :-)

[RummyChick]

Whats the latest from Bastardi? He is has been pretty accurate. yesterday he said it would go to a cat 5 and then probably back of to a 4 when it hit land.