Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part IV

NHC - NOAA ^ | 22 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Category 5 Hurricane Rita continues to threaten the Greater Houston Metropolitan area. The forecast track has shifted slightly to the northeast, increasing the risk to Southwest Louisiana, and a significant portion of the oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Texas Governor Perry is urging all coastal residents between Beaumont and Corpus Christi to evacuate as soon as possible.

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
Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Lake Charles Wx Watches/Warnings
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana
Hi Res Houston Flood Zone Map Slow load, great detail

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)

KPRC-TV/DT Houston - KPRC-TV/DT Houston - http://mfile.akamai.com/12944/live/reflector:38616.asx
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
Beaumont TX evac Routes
Lake Charles/Southwest LA Evacuation Map
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles Evac Routes, news
KFDM Beaumont/Port Arthur News, evac info
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 III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[lugsoul]

All the way to Nebraska, I see. ;-)

The day you have hurricane evac is the day I have to figure out what a cubit is.

[AliVeritas]

Some lurker probably posted it, I thought the same thing.
They bit it off Jeb's statement a few hurricanes back... to make sure the people left.

[dfwgator]

A guy on CNN was explaining the eddys Rita is passing over... yesterday a warm one, today a cold one and later today and tomorrow a hot one. He's saying the storm will grow again.

Especially if the ERC completes tonight.

[Centurion2000]

Well I was hungry. Not anymore.

[brothers4thID]

A drop to Cat 4 is good news but not jump-up-and-down-doing-the-happy news. She's till pushing a storm surge generated by the third lowest pressure gradient ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Like Katrina, she will weaken in wind speed before she hits, but she'll being pushing a wall of water ahead of her.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Hurricane Rita downgraded to a 4 per MSNBC.

[Dog Gone]

ROFL, yes!

[jveritas]

I think that later in mankind advancement we should find some technology to stop hurricanes or at least to weaken it.

[bwteim]

The other thing is that those are real quotes, you do know that, don't you? That's what makes them so pathetic.

[Strategerist]

A few miles of wobble in something this large this far away from land can mean hundreds of miles of difference in the actual landfall.

The Rita turn needed off the forecast track to hit New Orleans is about SEVEN TIMES LARGER than the slight deviation from the forecast track Charley made.

[Types_with_Fist]

Hurricane Rita downgraded to a 4 per MSNBC.

This is where Blank-O asks for 24 hours to rethink her own evacuation order. < /s>

[dfwgator]

The day you have hurricane evac is the day I have to figure out what a cubit is.

Riiiight ... What's a cubit?

[frankjr]

" third lowest pressure gradient"

But now the pressure is back up over 900mb...(at 915mb).

Note: I have absolutely no idea what a millibar is.

[Twinkie]

In a word - NO. Keep yourself a little bowl of chow-chow separate.

[duffthor]

It was a long trip on that school bus with no air conditioning and no bathroom from Houston to Omaha.

I actually have evacuees from New Orleans living around the corner from me in my little (pop. 25-30k) Nebraska town.

[SE Mom]

I know- here in Seminole we just had a blockbuster squall come by...lasted all of 5 mins.

[bonfire]

He has shut up in the last few days after he did the flip flop we are all so familiar with.

[tx_eggman]

I think you're all talking about the same thing:

As Rita's projected track begins to extend less westerly and more northwesterly, her projected landfall moves easterly.

The storm is moving generally westerly, but her target is drifting generally easterly.

But to acknowledge that Double Tap would have to take a deep breath and step away from his little pissing contest ... judging from his input thus far, I don't think that's going to happen.

[mware]

this from Drudge.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday.

Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods.

Police plan to seek a charge of committing an illegal act as a public official against Floyd, and more charges against other city workers are possible, police Capt. Steve Caraway said.

[DallasMike]

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that I-45 from Houston to Dallas is being switched to northbound-only over key areas of its route.

Traffic on Interstate 45 began piling up in Dallas on Thursday morning as thousands of cars streamed north from Houston. More than 1.3 million residents in Texas and Louisiana were under orders to get out to avoid a deadly repeat of Hurricane Katrina.

Highways leading inland out of Houston were gridlocked, with traffic bumper-to-bumper for up to 100 miles north of Houston. Meanwhile, the Texas Department of Transportation announced a contra-flow traffic plan on I-45 that was called the largest in the state's history.

As of midday, all lanes of I-45 were going to be turned northbound for an 80-mile stretch stretch between Houston and Buffalo, which is about midway between Dallas and Houston. Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, said setting up the turnaround was going slowly because of the safety issues involved in closing the southbound entrance ramps of an interstate that is eight lanes at some points.