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

[james_f_hall]

I really think events that are bringing out of towners in for the weekend should be canceled to free up those hotels.

Lots of rooms already are housing Katrina people.

I am thinking like ACL fest should be canceled. If CAT1 comes to Austin it should be canceled anyways.

[bluecollarman]

However, I am not a scientist or anything close, nor nearly as knowledgable as some of the posters on these thread

Yes,Yes ....but, did you stay in a Holiday Inn Express???

[mcshot]

Thanks for giving me an idea of what "weenie" means over there.

mc

[My Favorite Headache]

I think she is there already.

[RummyChick]

I think that was a talking head reporter. I don't remember who said it on Fox. I trust Bastardi the most on this one given his past accuracy.

[mware]

Good on Brit. Glad he nailed the B@st@rd.

[No Blue States]

Did you see Galveston broke its 1954 record high today?
Might that suggest the high is still over Galveston?

Possibly a little warmer water at landfall? :(

[burzum]

A storm surge comparable to the surge of Katrina will drown almost every square foot of Galveston, if not every square food.

Can't they tie a piece of cornbread to a flagpole?

[rwfromkansas]

I am pretty dang confused because mets are talking about cooler waters as she approaches the coast, but I saw a map yesterday and while their were cooler waters near the coast, there were much warmer water, warmer than WHERE SHE IS NOW, closer to the coast so she will have time to restrengthen before landfall after weakening a bit.

Is this not the case? Is there a pool of cooler water right before landfall?

[Dog Gone]

How far are you from the coast? Are you leaving? If you are near the NHC path you should get out of there.

I know I should get out of here. All my neighbors have already left. I could begin the looting now.

My wife is needed at the hospital where she works. I could take the pets and leave her, but how could I live with myself? Depending on which part of the Gulf you measure to (since it's curved) I'm about 60 miles from landfall. It'll knock it down a category, maybe a bit more, when it arrives.

Great. I just got a call from my wife at the hospital. One of her co-workers who is evacuating wants to know if I can take care of their dog.

Oh man.

[mewzilla]

I was kinda hoping that she'd shoot her wad real early, but most of the weather guys on the news nets don't seem to be looking for a lot of weakening, maybe down to a 4. But every little bit would help. Prayers for the folks in harm's way.

[null and void]

I have hung your screenie on a good friend at work who has the unpleasant duty of informing me of bad news coming my way.

When it hits, let us know if there's anything we can do.

[steveegg]

Changes from the previous Vortex Data Message with an eye fix 1 hour 40 minutes prior (note; there is no new max wind info) -

- Movement of 3 minutes north, 11 minutes west (track of approx. 285 degrees; don't ask for distance or speed or my computer will spontaneously combust :-)
- Minimum pressure down another 10 mb to 904 mb (last report had an extrapolated pressure of 914 mb)

[My Favorite Headache]

It won't be a 5 at landfall...not a chance. It is truly bombing out right now and will start to see it spin down a bit over the next 12-hours...about 10-15 mph and maintain borderline CAT-5 status and then into CAT-4.

This baby is comin in at 145-sustained...it is very hard for a storm to mainatin a CAT 5 level for longer than 24-hours and we are 48-hours from the effects piling into the Texas coastline.

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the local traffic update. Sounds like a mess out there right now.

[Riverman94610]

No,stay in Hobbs or Roswell.
Those are two places that I recall in my travels that I had NO problems finding accomodations!

[mewzilla]

Brit nailing Broussard and his fake crying story. When is Russert going to tell the truth?

When kitties in Heck get ice milk?

[CindyDawg]

McAllen gets a lot worse storms coming thru than we do but with a hurricane? I would think they would still get hit hard. It's about probably 45 minutes from the coasrt.

[steveegg]

Stay safe.

[CedarDave]

Great. I just got a call from my wife at the hospital. One of her co-workers who is evacuating wants to know if I can take care of their dog.

Better idea. Have her take YOURS. That way you can help your wife out at the hospital 'cause it will be all hands on deck following the storm.