Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Dangerous Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall in the northeast Gulf of Mexico within 24 hours. Tornados have spawned in Louisiana. Water is filling the Ninth Ward of New Orleans again. A bus carrying elderly evacuees was gutted by fire this morning outside Dallas, with multiple fatalities. Television crews have positioned their hurricane reporters throughout the region to attain maximum drama effects. Whoooooa.

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
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
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:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

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)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

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
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 V
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

[angelwings49]

LOL "Pretty Chicken" was Richard Engle :)

[johnb838]

The one that some called perky is fond of the use of the "some" as well.

[Arizona Carolyn]

I agree.

[fishntex]

Pres will be in state on Friday, visiting Northern Command and watching hurricane recovery efforts. This isn't a cave, it's pre-planned.

I heard that he was going there yesterday. I do not see the "cave" in this.

[Nita Nupress]

Can someone tell me the latest forecast for landfall location?

[Jrabbit]

I think they are predicting Tyler and east. I don't know if it will reach us over here or not.

[oceanview]

port arthur is the center of the cone right now.

[WFTR]

I'm in Mobile and have had driving rain, lightning and even two power losses. I think one of the bands just went through. We sure need the rain too.

I know what you mean about needing the rain. Except for a few sprinkles this week, we haven't had rain since Katrina. Prior to Katrina, we had a couple of days of rain every week. It's amazing to realize how much of the water that we'd normally receive was sucked into Katrina. I guess all of our rain has been sitting in the streets in New Orleans for the past few weeks.

[Centurion2000]

Rain that normally cools air is falling on very hot land and producing steam

What kind of an idiot made that statement? It's HOT in Texas ... but boiling? I don't think so.

[blam]

"I keep thinking this thing is going to turn even more north like Katrina did at the last minute. I wouldn't be surprised if it hit coast further east than most are guessing."

That's my expectation too.

[Txsleuth]

My husband talked to the guy at the Lucky Lady where he gets his gas....

The guy told him that any new shipments of gas in this area before Tuesday of next week, will be given to the MAJOR gas stations...like Shell, Mobil, Texaco..etc..

The one like the Lucky Lady will have to wait...

[dirtboy]

Can someone tell me the latest forecast for landfall location?

Right along the TX/LA border. But, as someone else noted, the last three storms jogged a few miles east as they approached the coast. So it could end up right over Lake Charles.

But it's also important to realize that the eye will be 30 miles wide, and bad surge will extend 70 miles east of the landfall point. And the worst effects could well be massive inland flooding in the Arklatex region.

[Txsleuth]

oh, dear...that will probably break Shep's heart!

lol--just a joke, Shep fans!!

[dirtboy]

I think they are predicting Tyler and east. I don't know if it will reach us over here or not.

It's a very big storm - the circulation right now would reach from Houston to NOLA. I think you will get a fair amount of rain from the backside circulation, even if it is 100 miles off to your east.

[hummingbird]

Oh hell who am I kidding, they really make it all up out of whole cloth.

*snicker*

[RDTF]

I like Shep - but I get the joke LOL!

[MplsSteve]

You're absolutely right.

Look none other than Sam Rayburn, the legendary speaker of the US House up thru the 50's.

[Centurion2000]

Both stations in our little town are out of gas. We are just north of Frisco.

Prosper or Celina ? Seems that there's plenty of gas here near Aubrey.

I will say on thing that annoyed the hell out of me this morning though. Louisiana drivers do NOT know what coming to a full stop means. Saw 3 drivers and all of them just basically blew through stop signs.

[Squantos]

ROTFLMAO !!!.......Looney Looter Eaker.....it's stealing a sousaphone and a minpin pup with grannies nickers on it's head....that's not a looter that's the singing telegram I sent ya telling ya to GET THE HECK OUT !

[texgal]

I just got to my future in-laws place north of Houston to ride out the storm. I live in Friendswood in north Galveston County. I was fortunate that my daughter's fiance stayed on the cell phone with me for hours using the transtar website to guide through parts of Houston that had little or no traffic.

I have a question. Why were the police stopping us from using traffic arteries like Telephone Road to get from point to point and instead turning us back to the freeways where people were waiting until they either broke down, ran out of gas or just plain gave up?