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

[Lemondropkid31]

thanks, yea I heard that. The Houston mayor sure was a lot more calm and gave better directions in what to do than the NO mayor didn't he?

[No Blue States]

"Did you see the cloud tops boiling in the upper right corner of the animation you linked?"

Yes, just wait till the sun gets on it.
Did you see what looks like a tornado in the eye?
Im sure it isnt, but it sort of looks like one.
Katrina had one of those too.

That loop really shows Rita growing in size.

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/rmsdsol/TROPICAL.html

[Jaded]

Is Chicken Little running his mouth again?

After all these years, Gore is still clueless.

[LizardQueen]

Whaaaa...I want Irish names, like Seamus...

LQ

[Jeff F]

Shep and Jerry are probably fighting right now on who gets to go to Galveston.

The centerline track puts it dead on to the South Texas Nuclear Project. I say send Heraldo there. Give him a lawn chair and mike atop one of the reactor domes. It will be good T.V.

[Spktyr]

We have lots of hotels here in Richardson - we're a Dallas suburb, semi-surrounded by Dallas. Try the big chain sites and plug Richardson in.

I've heard that you have to go to Dallas to find a hotel now.

[Marie Antoinette]

Just following along and snagging a new tagline...

[Jaded]

Only if it's near NOLA.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Let's not spare the Scots! How about Hurricane Fergus? or Padraig?

[JFC]

come to Lubbock and watch a heck of a good Texas Tech football team play on Sat. we aint got no stinking rain!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I hope you can convince them to leave. Victoria will not escape the winds and rain...

[sheikdetailfeather]

The Mayor of Galveston is to hold a news conference soon per Fox.

[steveegg]

The centerline track puts it dead on to the South Texas Nuclear Project. I say send Heraldo there. Give him a lawn chair and mike atop one of the reactor domes. It will be good T.V.

As long as we also put Andy Cooper there too (and somehow convince Chrissy Matthews that his show needs to go on the road),....

[Jrabbit]

Thanks.....I'm calling now. So far, no luck! grrrrrrrrr

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Take the advice already posted here and fill up every decent-sized vessel you already have.

[CindyDawg]

And don't leave out the "right" crowd. We need a hurricane Cindydawg, dogbyte12....

[No Blue States]

"Prayers go up for all in the great state of Texas."

Amen. BTTT.

[OB1kNOb]

"CNN had a reporter interviewing Gen. Honore this morning. "How do you FEEL about another storm coming so soon after Katrina?" Gen. Honore said "IT IS NOT A MATTER OF HOW YOU FEEL. IT IS A MATTER OF GETTING YOUR BRAIN IN GEAR. WE HAVE A PLAN."..."

BOORAH !! Nice b*&ch slap, Honore!!

CNN reporter: "Thank you sir, may I have another!"

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Mindreader...I was thinking of Padraig...but let us not forget Angus and Bruce...

[Spktyr]

Probably by ignoring it, just like they did in Galveston in 1900.

They will report "unsubstantiated rumors" of looting, but will almost never get it on tape. However, they will get lots of footage of Texans carrying rifles and shotguns (it is legal to open-carry long arms here, with few restrictions) as they patrol their neighborhoods and their property.

The latter footage will never hit the air.