Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII

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

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita landfall is anticipated within the next few hours. Strong winds and heavy rains are battering southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

MSM news crews are shouting over the howling winds as they foolishly describe blowing rain, swaying trees, and crashing waves through rain splattered camera lenses. It's a hurricane. We know these things already.

An 18 wheeler rig reportedly overturned on an I-10 bridge. The fate of the truck driver is unknown at this time. Reports of widespread power outages in Lake Charles. KPLC-TV Lake Charles local news has remarkably improvised their reporting from a remote location. They are taking calls from residents, NWS, and public utility representatives, and alerting residents to local conditions.

On the flip side, CNN announced to the world that law enforcement officers had evacuated from Port Arthur TX with the rest of the population. Engraved looter invitations would have been more elegant.

Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.

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 VI
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

[sheikdetailfeather]

Cameron/Lake Charles, La. to get the big storm surge per Fox meteorologist. (lots of refineries). About one more hour before landfall. Worst of the destruction will be east of the eye. Storm surge will be about that of a Cat 4 he said.

[cherry]

yeah, him....hope he's okay.....thx for locating that ....

[Pointblank]

free beer at the Wal-mart in Port Arthur I here:>

[steveegg]

New vortex data report - 2nd AF plane (306) on the scene with a fix at 11:53 pm CDT - Measurements odd compared to the previous fix at 11:31 from AF309, so no comparisons this time -

624 
URNT12 KNHC 240513
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 24/04:53:00Z
B. 29 deg 11 min N
  093 deg 26 min W
C. NA  mb NA   m
D. NA  kt
E. NA  deg     nm
F. 176 deg 113 kt
G. 084 deg 017 nm
H. EXTRAP  936 mb
I.  11 C/ 3652 m
J.  17 C/ 3658 m
K.  10 C/ NA
L.  OPEN SW
M. E36/24/16
N. 12345/NA
O. 0.02 /  2 nm
P. AF306 WX18A RITA02       OB 02
MAX FL WIND 113 KT E QUAD 04:48:10 Z

[Mo1]

Shep is gonna be one sore puppy tomorrow from getting beat up by all those gusts of wind

[Arizona Carolyn]

I wondered about that.

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.weatherunderground.com/US/Region/US/IRSatellite.html

[GottaLuvAkitas1]

"Rita has not made landfall yet. She has moved a bit more westward during the last hour. Appears it will be another hour or so. The eyewall has been right on the shore though. Actually there has been more than one eyewall with this thing. Damage is being done over a pretty wide area."

Thanks a million.
I couldn't figure out what I was seeing, and I can't have the tv volume up too high because hubby is sleeping; he has a 10k race at 6:00am.

[A Citizen Reporter]

You can quit worrying about Shep. He's gone down for the night. Out of hats is my guess.

[AntiGuv]

As a totally idle aside, the first of the NOLA Cams has come back online. Unfortunately, there's not much to see because it's the Oystercam, which is just the inside of the Acme Oyster House, and there's no one there anyhow..

[nerdgirl]

Watching the latest track forecast that graphic on another thread showing Rove and Bush w/ the hurricane machine is beginning to come to mind... you can imagine the conspiracy theorists grabbing a hold of this one if all of the major damage is in LA and not TX!

"Rita's final wobble: all Bush's fault"

[NautiNurse]

pdf file graph showing extended diurnal high tide for Sabine Pass.

Sabine Pass Tide Graph

[kenth]

They were given an all expenses paid looting vacation.

[TheMom]

Whatever you do don't ping glocks rocks!

[jacquej]

Stainless steel colanders works for me...

[Armedanddangerous]

Actually,

When we built our house in 1988, my great grandfather came to visit often. I always told him the front bedroom was his.
He passed away a year later.

We often sit in the living room and hear footsteps upstairs. They seem to originate in that room and go down the hall. Many, MANY people have heard these footsteps over the years.

I must emphasize that in no way do I feel threatened by these sounds. Pop was a kind and gentle soul. I just have to wonder if that's him watching over us...you know?

[steveegg]

Still has 130 mph sustained peak winds ?

No; down to 120 (been there since the 8 pm intermediate advisory; held up in the 10 pm advisory cycle and midnight intermediate).

[TheMom]

Crap!!

See post #1234

[Arizona Carolyn]

If the stories about professional looters in NOLA is true then why not believe they will make the rounds in Texas, too.

[not_apathetic_anymore]

well, leave to us Texans to loot a Dairy Queen

I'm pretty sure Oreo Blizzards count as being as essential as food and water.