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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
Zell Miller comes to mind. Ed Koch, former mayor of NYC, as well. Koch said, "I'm not a liberal. I'm a sane Democrat."
They are there -- few and far between -- but they are there.
Yes, those specs are correct. Lots of bang for your cranking effort. :-) I know - I have one and love it, so consider this an endorsement!
De Nada'
My employer just announced they will be closing Thursday and Friday. Right now they are discussing possibly closing 1/2 a day today.
I am feeling very mixed right now. I am now officially out of the cone, so I am staying put, and feeling lucky, but I fear for coastal Texas. This one could be Katrina++. No sense in anybody risking their lives on the chance that it dials down right before landfall.
stay safe.. prayers for you all from your neigbors in West Texas.....
As if your Teutonic-skulled father (love that - gonna remember that one...) wouldn't get out for a Category 3 storm - such as the ones that criss-crossed FLA last year?! ;-)
Ralph Hall was a wonderful dim....so wonderful that he switched parties! He's the ONLY dim I ever voted for.
Thx for the info. We're going to scout out the older tree limbs, and bring things inside. Thankfully we're located where there're no flooding problems (our home & yard backs to a 30 foot cliff with a river below, hence very good drainage).
We've got some really nice vines growing on our pergola that we'd hate to lose -- I guess I should get out there and wrap 'em up with some landscape fabric or something.
Dallas is only ~250mi N of Austin, too, and I'm expecting us to get the biggest rainstorm I've ever seen at the very least - we're only about 400-odd from Houston. This one looks like it's either going to cruise up the 35/45 corridor or parallel it. Either way, it's not going to be a whole lot of fun.
The only good news is that if it hits between Galveston and Corpus is that there's not really a whole lot there for the eyewall to destroy.
I have to go get one. Even with a strong breeze, here, we lose power. I have my battery operated scanner and lanterns, but I really want that radio!
Oh, that is priceless!!!
We've been planning for this for over 100 years - we *should* know how to do it by now.
On the other hand, we also don't suffer idiots in leadership for long (Sheila Jackson-Lee is an exception - may lose her job in the next election cycle from what I hear).
It won't help me now but I'm gonna get one of those too:')
Prayers for you, too....and all of my TX FRiends.
I have a brother in Beeville. Are you familiar with that area? I don't know how far it is from the coast. Thanks.
This is being commented on at weatherunderground. If true, this is a monster. Hopefully she blows herself out while in open water.
Laugh... we sometimes we get the rain -but the lightening/high wind have not happened thus far.. in 13 years. It's very weird really - once we were watching a storm coming from the NW on television and the computer - the storm had VERY severe hail - we rushed out and got the car under cover (it was brand new at the time).. Lo and behold.. it split right around us! Bad hail/wind damage to the northwest of us and to the southeast - even in our neighborhood - but nothing for us.. whew.. We're up on a hill .. maybe that has something to do with it?
About an hour's drive north of Corpus Christi...
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