Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part V

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

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous Category Four Hurricane Rita continues to move toward landfall along the northwest Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations continue across Texas and Louisiana coastal areas. Lake Charles LA is providing evacuations by bus for residents who have no transportation.

Traffic gridlock in the greater Houston area was compounded by gasoline stations without fuel, long lines at those stations still carrying fuel, and record breaking temperatures on the first day of autumn.

Offshore drilling platforms and rigs, as well as oil refineries, petrochemical and natural gas plants are in the path of the storm. Wave heights recorded by buoy have exceeded 38 feet. The refineries threatened by Hurricane Rita are on higher ground than those affected by flooding from Katrina. As a result, speculation abounds regarding future prices for winter heating fuel and gasoline.

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
KPLC-TV Lake Charles KPLC Streaming
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 IV
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[NCjim]

Please ping me when you post the lyrics.

By the way we just got back from a vacation in Nashville - I had not been there since Opryland park closed. What a difference those years have made! Music Valley has changed - even the Parthenon isn't the same. I think it seemed larger when it was empty, though, and more impressive than coming in through the basement. *g

[fishntex]

"Very good chance Rita makes it back to CAT 5 -- she has a very warm eddy to cross, and her pressure is still very supportive of a CAT 5. HOWEVER, as she approaches landfall there is a good chance that the slightly cooler coastal waters, and interaction with land will weaken her back down to a CAT 4."

Holy cow. "weakening to a 4", That does not sound good.

I have a friend in west Houston that tried to leave at 2:30am today. He got 16 miles in 12 hours and it took half a tank of gas so they turned around and went back home. Fortunately that had bought supplies when Rita was in the keys.

[maeng]

The MSM have all been horrible thru the whole Katrina mess, the mess they created..guess some of them will try to do the same with this one. However, in this part of Texas we have half of Houston in our motels, hotels and all is well. The stores are out of many things and the lines are long there, but everyone behaving great!

[bwteim]

Ivan was a 3 at landfall, Charley a 4

[Zacs Mom]

That sound all too respectable to be much fun...lol

[fishntex]

Bless his heart.

[blam]

"Didn't we get hit by two CAT4 last year, Ivan and Charley?"

Ivan hit land as a cat 3.

[james_f_hall]

I hope that is not the case. Someone posted earlier they lifted the mandatory evacuation in Corpus. A quick glance at http://www.callertimes.com confirms this.

[Txsleuth]

When my kids were little, we would go to Galveston for the weekend about 2-3 times a summer...

We would always stay at the Commodore Hotel...right on Seawall Blvd...right across from the beach...

I remember Gaido's Restaurant very fondly!!!!

[steveegg]

We'll have another set of probabilities in a half-hour.

[roses of sharon]

Joe is a typical pol, lecturing those who are working their arses off trying to save lives.

I wish I could think of a word for this kind of man, he just makes me sick.

[sinkspur]

Now that the highways are flowing better, anybody out there have any horses they need to get out?

I've got a friend in Glen Rose with 35 acres and she'll take all the horses and cattle you can bring.

[Zacs Mom]

where are you?

[steveegg]

Welcome back to the thread (damn, but that's a long day).

[fishntex]

That is what they said. Actually it was 30-40 on the right side, potentially.

[jeffers]

30 minutes ago, the answer was "where in G county?"

Now, it may not matter.

All you can do is hope for the best and make sure the insurance is paid up. The models have gone into random chaos, and the storm is 6.5 miles SW of where it should be if it was coming ashore at Sabine Pass like the 1700 projection says it would.

[NautiNurse]

Thank Mike; I'm just the conduit tonight.

If you two start dancing to Unchained Melody, I'm gonna die...

[CedarDave]

Not all clear on highways. Callers to KPRC have I-45 Woodlands area still clogged. See webcams:

http://www.houstontranstar.org/snapshots/237.jpg

http://www.houstontranstar.org/snapshots/240.jpg

[james_f_hall]

Ok. Got it!

[bwteim]

Source

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml