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]

psssst...you are annoying.

[dirtboy]

Now that's a Cat-5 ugly thought.

Yep - if that Spandex fails, it would cause catastrophic destruction.

[MplsSteve]

Hey now!

Enough of that. Unfortunately, I just had a brief visual of your post cross my mind.

(shudders)

[tcrlaf]

<< Do they still make Yugos? I could probably fit 3 of them in my SUV.>>>

Use one as an emergency escape pod for my suburban...

[Types_with_Fist]

if that Spandex fails, it would cause catastrophic destruction.

It could destroy what's left of New Orleans.

[fooman]

thank you.

[dfwgator]

I've been hearing that Rita might still be a Category 1 even over the DFW area. Yikes. I think it will be at least a pretty good tropical storm by then. Areas just east of Dallas will probably have it worse.

[Txsleuth]

YIKES---

My house in Arlington, isn't anywhere near being a flood plain...have never had water go higher than the gutter in the street...

I HAVE seen Lake Arlington get really high though...it is a mile or so from my house.. I am counting on the fact that our lack of rain has probably had the lake levels so low this year...that none of the lakes around here would flood...

I have a daughter with Marine Creek Lake as her backyard, though...do you know if that lake has ever gone over its banks???

[bwteim]

Just don't mix them in your own suds

[MOgirl]

Good Lord, that looks terrible.

MOgirl

[don-o]

After graduating from Chanute Weather School in the 92nd percentile of my class, I spent a stint in the Air Force as a weather specialist.

Me too!! Ping had a different definition there. Remember?

I ended up at AFGWC in Omamha, Plotting maps with a rapdiograph ink pen and hourly observations off teletype.

Pretty boring duty - but we had a retired colonel who was a civilian employee, who specialized in predicting tornadoes. It got pretty exciting to watch him look at a map, then he would draw his red box and the asvisory would go out.

[Sprite518]

THANKS FOR THE AMAZING PICTURES!

[No Blue States]

Sorry, I didnt mean to wish Rita in your direction.

The loops seem to show possible NW movement now, more than a wobble.
For the 1st time to me it looks like even NOLA could be in play.

Im no expert though, probably just watching this too close.

What do you think:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/gmex-vis-loop.html


Maybe im overanalizing too few frames.

[jeffers]

ummm...just out of curiosity...at what point do the pressure in millibars and the expected wind velocity equal each other?

;-)

chin up peoples, this thing has to leave the loop current before it can get ashore. In the case of hurricanes, colder water is a good thing.

[steveegg]

18Z Runs of the GFS and NGP have a fairly significant shift north, considering how closely clustered things were at 12Z.

Full runs not in yet.

Hang on Houston (or is it further north than that?)!

[Michael Goldsberry]

Crystal Beach, can you imagine it surviving?

I'm sorry to say, no. My beach house is on the other side, the West side and I've pretty much accepted now that it will be destroyed Saturday morning.

I hope I'm wrong.

[Txsleuth]

Fifth most intense NOW...

but there is a lot of time for that pressure to drop, correct???

[Dog Gone]

...RITA BECOMES THE FIFTH MOST INTENSE HURRICANE ON RECORD...

Wonderful. Yesterday morning when I got up she was a tropical storm. Tonight she's this and the BAMM model run goes directly over my house.

I picked a bad week to quit sniffing airplane glue.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Local Orlando's WFTV Chief Meteorologist, Tom Terry said just now he thinks it will hit land at 135mph and will not maintain its strength. He said it is over the warmest waters right now.

[AliVeritas]

Leave, no explanations. This is no joke... take your 3 month old and get out of there, if he wants to stay... let him.