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

[RDTF]

13-5

[Howlin]

We're all like cats on a hot skillet. No big deal.

[Spktyr]

Per TXCN/Perry news conf: Contraflow is in use on 45 now (live footage). Those who are out of gas should pull over and wait. TxDOT crews will come along and refuel your vehicle.

[mathluv]

Do you mean it is not going to flood again?

[steve86]

Storm2k threads reporting pressure dropping and cloud tops cooling. Intensification, although wind speed will lag for a while.

[NautiNurse]

ok, so that was the committee vote. Thanks.

[RoseofTexas]

Heard it again, with Shep! Gas for those stranded folks underway!! Proud of my State!!

[Zacs Mom]

That "Wave Height Forecast" image is absolutely mind boggling!!

[Howlin]

13-5.

[ncpatriot]

Shep is in Galveston.

[Howlin]

Biden, Kennedy, Boxer, Schummer, Durbin

[pageonetoo]

Rita weakens slightly to Category 4
September 22, 2005 - 02:43 PM

This has been an absolutely incredible hurricane season, and we are still near the peak. Hurricane Rita's explosive growth has finally stopped and she has weakened slightly. Fortunately, Rita should slowly continue to weaken until landfall. Category 5 hurricanes are very hard to maintain. At this point it looks like Rita is completing and eyewall replacement cycle and could strengthen very soon.

Aircraft recon earlier reported a central pressure of 897 mb. This makes Hurricane Rita the third most intense hurricane ever record in the Atlantic. This places Rita behind Gilbert in 1988 with 888mb, and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane with 892 mb. Last month Hurricane Katrina recorded 902 mb. Right now the central pressure is up to 914 mb. Please remember that althought Rita is now a Category 4 storm, she can still pack storm surge of a Category 5.
http://www.thestormtrack.com/

[seeker41]

Thanks for correcting me, I knew it was originally 17 ft.LOL

[RDTF]

gotta tell me how they pull this one off.

[Broker]

Sean Hannity tickles his radio audience w/ lead in Katrina is bearing down on Galveston and Houston.

[ladyjane]

It's going to be awful if Laz is correct and it goes in over NOLA. We'll never hear the end of it.

[Dog Gone]

I can still go. I can get to the river just this side of Eagle Lake driving section roads 80% of the way. No one but farmers or duck hunters could find their way on those roads.

That's good to know that you still have that option. Rita is probably a good 36 hours from landfall, and the high fives that the people living on the western side of Houston are giving each other (and I'm as guilty as anyone) could still turn out to be premature.

Rita is a very powerful storm. It's still predicted to hit as a Cat 4, and that prediction comes with no guarantee. It wouldn't take much of a course correction to put us in serious trouble again.

We're still going to be in trouble. Rita is a massive storm, and even if the eye passes east of Galveston, both of us will still experience hurricane force winds.

I can't find gasoline anywhere for my chainsaw, but I just made a deal with my neighbor. He'll donate a half gallon to the cause and we'll both clean up our part of the subdivision after the storm passes.

[Moose4]

Y'know, if that track keeps shifting east anywhere close to the rate it has been, that's going to put the strong side of the storm back over the western New Orleans suburbs and Lake Pontchartrain. They wouldn't get hurricane-force winds, but they'd get gales, and a crapload of rain that they can't handle right now.

I've got friends in Baton Rouge, and let me tell you, they're terrified. And I don't blame them, the way that track keeps shifting.

}:-)4

[Howlin]

Shep is in Galveston.

Or as he referred to it, "The Impact Zone."

I guess he wants to be the first one to get the hysteria going, huh?

[Zacs Mom]

Chocolate sounds pretty good, too! I did a glazed creme bunt cake .... easier to eat with your hands in the dark! lol