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]

And they have to be inside your house for you to be in the clear, right? (as in you'd better drag him inside through the front door or you're in trouble)

[Spktyr]

In addition, the definition of "the militia" meaning "all law abiding citizens willing and able to carry arms" is alive and well in Texas.

If the police and National Guard can't get the job done, the citizens will take a swing at it. And if we don't succeed (highly unlikely, there's a LOT more of us than anything else), whatever it is will certainly know it'd been in a fight.

A "rag-tag" militia of Texans is the worst thing in the world to have attack you. Just ask Santa Anna.

[kjam22]

LOL... When I was 20 years old I went to work at a gas processing plant. I worked in that environment for 10 years before moving into the marketing side of the industry.

[cgk]

There was a pic of you on LBGA's FReeper photo album... (noone has been willing to take it over since she passed, and the pics seem to be lost) :(.

[Howlin]

Where Does Carbon Monoxide Come From?

Carbon monoxide is a common by-product of the combustion (burning) of fossil fuels. Most fuel-burning equipment (natural gas, propane and oil), if properly installed and maintained, produces little CO. The by-products of combustion are usually safely vented to the outside. However, if anything disrupts the venting process (such as a bird's nest in the chimney) or results in a shortage of oxygen to the burner, CO production can quickly rise to dangerous levels.

The burning of wood, kerosene, coal and charcoal produce CO. Gasoline engines produce CO. CO production is at a maximum during the startup of a cold engine. Starting, then idling, your car or gas mower in the garage can be dangerous.The fumes that contain CO can enter a home through connecting walls or doorways and can quickly rise to dangerous levels.

[cgk]

Is Bastardi saying that Rita will loop back around and hang out in Texas?!

[RummyChick]

Has anyone noticed the dichotomy between the deluge of insurance commercials trying to make people believe that they quickly pay claims and they have a big old soft heart and hand out teddy bears versus the reality of not wanting to pay for much of the damage that has occured?

[eastforker]

That must be the stove using the lantern fuel, propane fuel does not produce CO when you burn it, statement, fact.

[green pastures]

"Hey, I've got bread! And about 8 lbs of various summer sausages and hard salamis."

Oh, sure. The little debbies have already bit the dust, haven't they?

;-)

[SGCOS]

..Based on the Vortex messages from 1500Z to 2032Z, I'm inferring that Rita appears to be going over pockets of "cooler" water, and its playing havoc with the her thermodynamics. As a result she's losing entrainment, forced subsidence is weak, inner eye-wall edge boundry layer mixing is causing the humidity in the eye to increase (is already rather high), inner/outter eye temps are going down. And it seems she's struggling with EWRC. Even so, she's pretty much near full MPI.

Reads like a scientific definition of a young lady getting hit on at the local bar.

[Spktyr]

One word: Glock.

[MamaB]

The man on KTRK said parts of TX could get 25 inches of rain.

[steveegg]

Speaking of duelling NOAA/AF Vortex reports, here's the latest AF one (pressure measured at 913 mb, up 2 mb from the NOAA measurement 37 minutes ago; still no NW quadrant entry to update the NOAA 133-knot measurement there) -

000
URNT12 KNHC 222131
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 22/21:20:40Z
B. 25 deg 53 min N
  089 deg 31 min W
C. 700 mb 2337 m
D. NA  kt
E. NA  deg     nm
F. 324 deg 102 kt
G. 222 deg 022 nm
H.         913 mb
I.  10 C/ 3049 m
J.  18 C/ 3049 m
K.  15 C/ NA
L. OPEN SE
M. CO16/41
N. 12345/ 7
O. 0.02 /  1 nm
P. AF306 WX18A RITA01       OB 07
MAX FL WIND 122 KT NE QUAD 19:19:30 Z

[hummingbird]

Of course if you're fat or very social maybe it would rub off.

(Blush) and (*Snort*) at the same time...LOL!

[cgk]

LOL!

[steveegg]

Is Bastardi saying that Rita will loop back around and hang out in Texas?!

Dunno about Bastardi (been watching TWC mostly), but that's the consensus now.

[kjam22]

You'd have to work really hard to cause a shortage of oxygen to the burner tip.

So this much we'd agree.... as far as ventilation goes....don't sit in a 2x6 closet with your space heater. That might not be healthy.

[Howlin]

What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fossil fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, propane, oil and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment are possible sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles running in an attached garage could also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

However, consumers can protect themselves against CO poisoning by maintaining, using, and venting heating and cooking equipment and by being cautious when using vehicles in attached garages.

[fanfan]

OK.

I'll let you be the first to try it.

Or maybe you'd like to ask some of the people who died trying to do the same thing during the ice storm of '98, in my neck of the woods.

[mware]

And they have to be inside your house for you to be in the clear, right? (as in you'd better drag him inside through the front door or you're in trouble)

Well that is what my friend who is a Sargent in the State Troopers told me to do.