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

[SE Mom]

Exactly- folks need to remember Galveston has a BAY as well as the frontage on the Gulf. Once that water crosses the island and floods into the bay...

Also- that seawall doesn't go the entire length of the island..only a few miles.

[shield]

HIGHWAY 105 WEST NORTH FROM I-10...

Tell him to get off the freeway turn right go north to Hwy 105 turn left stay on that highway to Bellville...he'd then go back south to I-10...however, I-10 will probably still be too backed up. I'd find another back road taking him west...tell him to stop some place and buy a map...or ask folks in Bellville, they'll be glad to direct him from there.

[Broker]

Track has trending more easterly. Hurricane warning now extends to W. Louisianna. More potential to bracket NOLA. Katrina hit east, Rita on west. Very dangerous situation especially for rescue ships docked in NOLA on the river.

[Gondring]

Katrina certainly had Cat 5 storm surge

Hasn't the post-storm evidence shown that it was a Cat 3 storm surge, and that the flooding was from levee breeches that were lower than overtopping levels? E.g., debris ring levels are below the levee tops.

[Trust but Verify]

Houston/Galveston would be better off taking a direct hit or having the storm go NE of them than having it come in to their southwest.

[AliVeritas]

That's up from the 38ft they had yesterday... depends where you are of course. But the diameter grew, right?
What's the pressure now, is it up or still dropping?

[SE Mom]

My question- is it going through an eyewall reformation?

[NautiNurse]

It is officially classified as a Cat 4 in Plaquemines and a Cat 3 on the MS coast.

As I said, that is today. The damage is much greater than Cat 3 along the MS coast.

[Trust but Verify]

I think the pressure is back up above 900 millibars now.

[truthandlife]

I am in the 290 area and was going to leave for San Antonio. My brother left at 4:30 and got 10 miles in 2 hours. He said many people were running out of gas. He turned around.

I am going to hunker down and ride out the storm. I have 4 small kids and 1 on the way. I was able to get food yesterday but I don't have any ice from the store.

I prayed about it last night and feel good about my decision. This storm going to the East of us is a blessing. It is a huge storm but we don't have to be on the dirty part of the storm.

[NautiNurse]

MS storm surge was not caused by levee breach.

[RSmithOpt]

To all FReepers in the path and those with friends and relatives in the path of potential danger from this storm, may God Bless you to you keep you all safe. And for this nation, may Rita not take as serious a toll, politically, economically, and most importantly, human life as hurricane Katrina.

[sweet_diane]

Weather Channel is 362 on DirecTV

[dixie sass]

Lol, be safe. This is one time I'm glad that I don't have cable - don't have to listen to all of the nay-sayers and ponticaters telling people what we should have done and could have done when they have never experience any major storm except through the media (who tend to exagerate) and the movies.

[WinMod70]

I have watching the national radar loop and am a bit confused. The radar does not indicate any of the storm paths being projected. Could it be that there is an error on the land map overlay on the radar?
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNationalWide.asp?loc=usa&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=RadarImagery&product=RadarLoop&prodnav=none&pid=none

[silentknight]

Morning Paper Headlines
http://www5.wright-weather.com/bb/showthread.php?s=&postid=456317#post456317

[Trust but Verify]

Please think of and do anything you can to prepare for being without power and water. You can never overdo it.

I will keep you and your precious family in my prayers.

[blam]

"Yoweser - TWC says storm surge in Galveston could be 50ft."

Man O Man. I'm thinking about filling my 55 gallon Y2K gasoline drum. I believe gasoline will be hard to come by at any price, nationwide, after Rita. The biggest problem I had after Katrina was the lack of gasoline. It looks like the Texas refineries are gonna be clobbered.

I wonder how many FReepers are on the road evacuating this morning?

[AntiGuv]

I agree with you. I've been somewhat perplexed by that myself. The reported surge along the Mississippi coast was a Cat 5 surge. Others have said that the surge does not decline as swiftly as the wind speed, because it gets piled up ahead of the storm while it's still at the greater strength. I don't know myself, of course; I'm just reporting the official figures. One might certainly dispute their validity, but that is what they are.

[silentknight]

HURRICANE WARNINGS TO BE ISSUED WITHIN AN HOUR OR SO