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

[1riot1ranger]

Thanks for the pings this morning. We will be leaving for SA today.

[rabair]

this is about as un-PC as it gets but, well... that's me.... let's hope it goes a little more west, rather than northwest, and mainly just hits Mexico, and only grazes Texas if it has to.

[Rte66]

Thanks - no, it's not favorable at all. It's very scary. Same met is now making the point that from noon Friday (or even earlier) through mid-afternoon Saturday, for about 24 to 36 hours, we cannot leave our homes if we stay here.

[GOP_Thug_Mom]

we got one of those about a year and a half ago--I still have it somewhere...

[WoodstockCat]

Just an FYI for everyone. My wife was supposed to fly into Austin to visit her sister (and my new niece) on Thursday AM and then fly out on Sunday.

I called SouthWest Airlines last night and they have already declared (their internal code) "rule 85" (it may be 35 bad connection) for Houston and Corpus Christi airports.

That means if you have flights in or out through the weekend you can rebook without penalty within the next 14 days. They haven't declared the same for Austin, that is still a standard cancelation policy creating a credit that is good for up to one year. Prayers for you Texans!

Our eyes and hearts are upon you this weekend!

[Gone GF]

I think people are overreacting. After all, Category 5 hurricanes are a dime a dozen. (sarcasm off)

[Peach]

FNC just reminded people who were thinking about looting that people in Texas carry guns. LOL

[laz]

Rita has dropped 40mb (from 988 to 948) and increased 65mph (from 70mph to 135mph) in the past 24 hours.

And she still has another 45 minutes to go before the 24-hour mark. Wouldn't surprise me if she increases another 5 mph by then.

At this point in the gulf, Katrina was what? Still a Cat 1?

[daybreakcoming]

Awesome pictures. Rita just looks more wicked.

[Zacs Mom]

As I see it right now, the storm will weaken once it makes landfall so by the time it reaches Austin it would most likely be a strong storm, but not a hurricane.

If my mom were there I'd see if I couldn't make contact with one of her neighbors so someone near by would know to check on her if things got really rough in her area.

I'd also keep a close eye on Rita and move to get her out if it looked as though real trouble was headed there by Friday afternoon.

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

I think I'm gonna tell her to stock up on some water, gas, batteries just in case power lines go down. I think it would be silly for her to drive north since the highways are gonna be jammed.

[Trust but Verify]

I hope they don't try to make people leave their pets behind. A lot of people would risk their lives and stay with the pets.

[angelsonmyside]

NautiNurse, thanks for keeping this thread going. Prayers to all in that general direction. I am originally from Houston and remember Carla well and they say this will be worse. For the first time in 49 years we are making my mom leave town.

[TaxRelief]

This looks to become a cat 5 hurricane.

I would've thought it would go back to Cat 3...

[NautiNurse]

I'm sorry I missed that. CNN should report the same.

[WoodstockCat]

What's your opinion on potential loss of power in Austin after landfall?

[4everontheRight]

Dr. Joe from Accuweather just said Rita is Katrina-like. He said it should upgrade to a 5 and lower to a 4 but still be a 4 when it hits land

[Strategerist]

Problem is there hasn't been any aircraft recon for 12+ hours due to multiple electronic failures (I'd say it has to be 3-4 aircraft) so the pressure estimate at this time is an unusually vague guess.

[VirginiaMom]

So far every report I've heard has said they can take their pets as long as the pets are in pet crates.

[anymouse]

Houston Real-time Traffic Map