Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous and large Category Five Hurricane Rita is churning westward across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas. Air Force Reconnaissance indicated the central pressure has dropped to 904mb, making Rita the fifth most intense hurricane ever in the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches have been issued from Northern Mexico through the South Louisiana coastline. Galveston TX used school buses to evacuate residents. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations are in effect along the Texas coastline.

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 Western Gulf of Mexico
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana

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

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

FReeper Sign In Thread Check in to let us know whether you are staying, going, and when you get there
FReepers Offering Lodging To Rita Evacuees People and/or Pet Friendly FReepers Offering Shelter
Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston
Galveston Webcams
Golden Triangle Weather Page Provides Galveston Weather, Warnings, Radar, etc.

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 II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[Hilltop]

From an area oil distributor of many years, if Rita hits as projected gasoline supplies for the eastern half of the nation will be disrupted.

This is a man not given to embellishment.

[Lazamataz]

Get your facts straight.

No. In fact, just because you said that, I am going to make it my mission to spread the confirmed fact that Katrina made landfall as a Cat-5.

Cuz she did.

[nwctwx]

assertation isn't a word, either. ;)

darn...

[La Enchiladita]

Fall on your knees....

Amen!

[Strategerist]

Kat was category 4 windspeed and cat 5 pressure on landfall in MS. She was category 5 for both at landfall in South Louisiana. At least that is what I have read.

There's no such thing as "Category 5 for pressure" as pressure is irrelevant to giving a storm a Saffir-Simpson category. The pressures ranges you see given for S-S categories on charts are merely additional useful info.

And it was a Category 4 at first landfall in Louisiana.

[RDTF]

OMG check out this Infrared image from NASA

http://weather.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/goeseasthurrir.html

[don-o]

Whatever.

Might be better to start a prayer thread / theological speculation thread for such.

[steveegg]

Dunno if NHC is holding out with us, but they haven't updated the Max Flt Level Winds in the last 2 Vortex Data Messages - they're still reporting 2:32 pm CDT/161 kt in the NE quadrant).

Changes from the previous one (with a fix 1 hour 53 minutes ago) -

- Movement 7 minutes north, 14 minutes west
- Pressure down 5 mb to 899 mb
- Reporting AC now NOAA3 (was AF300)

[Michael Goldsberry]

My Sugar Land house has never flooded, even when others around me have. My Galveston house, on the other hand...

I do believe I'm in for something of a "pucker moment" over the whole wind damage thing.

What area(s) do your SL friends live in? Some parts flood soon during a storm.

[don-o]

What is that mess east of Rita? Does not look good!

[Hilltop]

Bone dry in Birmingham as well.

[Lazamataz]

Please illuminate me as to my error in facts I stated.

Well, for example, your posting time-date stamp. It's clearly not that time.

[mewzilla]

She'll go annular before long.

Is that good or bad? (It definitely sounds rude ;)

[CindyDawg]

I would get them out. I used to live between highlands and Crosby. It's a tornado alley and floods. Our mobile home was totaled there during Alica.

[Bahbah]

They are on Grand Cayman Drive. Lovely house. They have a son and daughter in law and the cutest grandson imaginable who are also in the area, but I don't know their exact location.

[steveegg]

What is that mess east of Rita? Does not look good!

Tripical Storm (was Hurricane briefly) Phillipe. The news on that is good; disorganized and expected to stay both away from land and below hurricane-force.

---

For those of you FReeping from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, heads up. There are confirmed tornadoes in the northern suburbs, and the system is moving southeast.

[Flyer]

. . . post to us often, PLEASE.

Gee, I eat dinner at the computer and I love storm watching. Don't worry about that.

You can also check the date and time on my dog's web cam. If it is current it means I'm here and ok.

MasonCam

[CindyDawg]

AAACK
BS
Cindydawg
Daemon
EOF
FOAD
Gates
HTH
IB4TZ
JMHO
KMA
LOL
Microsoft
n00b
OMG
Phishing
Quix
ROFL
STFU TMI
U There?
VLSI
WTF
XXX
Y me?
Zebra (because every list always ends with Zebra)

[Txsleuth]

LOL---Maybe Laz would make a good Pope....

but, since that job is taken, we will run him for POTUS!!!

[USAF0021]

Tropical Storm Philippe is out there, east of the Windward Islands, it is not forcecast to be much of a threat, wind shear has been greatly weakening it as of late and is headed away from land.