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

[A Citizen Reporter]

Every time I think the reporting can't get any worse.....it always does.

[handy]

I think it's also made it clear that a major American city will never be the same, ever. Maybe almost wiped off the map.

I grew up in NO. I think there is a good chance it will be BETTER than it was. The 9th ward was a hell hole and won't be missed. Give it back to the lake. Much of the historical and the good parts of the city survived.

[onyx]

Bill O'Reilly is going to report on that bus tragedy right now.

[sinkspur]

Hurricane Party with eight crazy cajuns in my house!

Doin' up some T-Bones, home-fried onion rings and Lima Beans.

Of course, the crazy-cajun-in-chief, my S-I-L, burned up my blender doing Margaritas, so she's off to the Target to get another one.

Don't lend a cajun your car keys, under any circumstances.

[Altair333]

This miss of Houston and chaos will cause folks not to evacuate next time.

[steve86]

I still can get on to easternuswx, however.

Good big picture comments:

6:34 PM Rita, with a pressure of 930mb, 124 kt winds, storm surge could be 20+ feet, callme crazy but with a pressure lower than Hugo at landfall 934mb, Rita will make a serious hit, this will be a serious hit, underestimated because it is being compareed to Katrina. Not to mention the flooding post landfall.

6:36 Couldn't agree more Raleigh. This is a very dangrous storm, and will be well inland. Lets hope all in the path are taking precautions.Thanks for a very well reasoned and great post this evening

6:42 I agree-- a lot of people on this board (especially the young ones who don't remember the very slow 1970s and '80s) are amazingly jaded about a strong Cat-3 landfall.

P.S. Winds are not 124 kt-- they are 125 mph (110 kt). I assume this was typo, but wanted to point it out because it's a big difference.

7:16 I tell you what though, I've never seen a legitimate 930mb cane look this organized around the core.. It's amazing.

I invite Southhack to make a "Don't Worry Be Happy" comment about here.

[BurbankKarl]

KPRC reported a huge transformer explosion on Galveston about 10 ago

[alarm rider]

I have been kidding around, I know. Just trying to add a bit of humor at the expense of the network twits.

But truthfully, I am a Texan to the core, even though I am not now there. I wish all of you God's light and protection. Stay strong, we are with you.

[Prolifeconservative]

I'll tell you what's really annoying with these reporters in these storms and it's there use of the word "literal."

It goes something like this...."the wind is picking up, there's a lady out here and her hat "literally" flew off her head"

Or "we're here in Houston and cars are "literally" running out of gas on the highways."

Or...."Wow, look at that surf,,,,,it is "literally" getting higher as the storm moves in...."

Do they want to sound more intelligent or do they think the use of the word "literal" sounds more dramatic....

It just bugs the dickens out of me.....Literally!!

Okay,,,glad I got that off my chest. I'm going to drink a beer now and chill.

[ValerieUSA]

swirly edges to the clouds

[RDTF]

I see you are still trying to make the peace :-)

Howdy Howlin FRiend.

[proud American in Canada]

I could insert a comment here about our local politicians

LOL! Take care, Sandy. :)

I really love how FR brings people from all over the nation, the continent, and the world, together, especially in times like these. It's an amazing thing.

Thanks, Jim. :)

[RikaStrom]

No rain here yet. . . but the wind is definitely picking up.

[diamond6]

Oh no! I have a dear friend in Louisiana. I hope she's okay, I think her power went out.

[M1911A1]

Howlin, I can receive, but not transmit. Do you read me, over? ;-)

[onyx]

I can't recall that we had anyone from Galveston.

[silentknight]

WARNING TO EVERYONE NEAR PORT ARTHUR AND BEAUMONT

APPEARS THAT THE CENTER OF RITA WILL PASS OVER OR NEAR THESE AREAS...

Expect tornado like winds later tonight across Orange, Jefferson, Tyler, Jasper, Hardin and surrounding counties. Winds could be as an F2 or F3 tornado. The potential for winds gusting to 145 miles per hour exists upon landfall of Rita. Storm surge of 15-20 feet will be possible along and east of the eye as she makes landfall.

Isolated tornadoes are likely as Rita continues to move towards the coast and then inland.

The current forecast is for the eye of this hurricane to pass over or near Port Arthur, Beaumont, Sabine Pass, and surround towns. Catastrophic damage can be expected with this hurricane.


FORECAST MAP TRACK

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/temp/track21z.gif

[silentknight]

WARNING TO EVERYONE NEAR PORT ARTHUR AND BEAUMONT

APPEARS THAT THE CENTER OF RITA WILL PASS OVER OR NEAR THESE AREAS...

Expect tornado like winds later tonight across Orange, Jefferson, Tyler, Jasper, Hardin and surrounding counties. Winds could be as an F2 or F3 tornado. The potential for winds gusting to 145 miles per hour exists upon landfall of Rita. Storm surge of 15-20 feet will be possible along and east of the eye as she makes landfall.

Isolated tornadoes are likely as Rita continues to move towards the coast and then inland.

The current forecast is for the eye of this hurricane to pass over or near Port Arthur, Beaumont, Sabine Pass, and surround towns. Catastrophic damage can be expected with this hurricane.


FORECAST MAP TRACK

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/temp/track21z.gif

[blam]

"Natural gas prices are over a buck a therm...I think Jeb said to not use energy for a while."

Serves'em right. Check out the Gulf gas fields. The wells end right at the Alabama line. They have lots of natural gas just off-shore.