Tropical Storm Rita Live Thread

NHC - NOAA ^ | 18 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Tropical Storm Rita has developed from TD 18 in the Atlantic Ocean. TS Rita is currently located north of Hispaniola, the eastern tip of Cuba, and ESE of Nassau, Bahamas. Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for portions of Florida. Check for local weather statements.

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
Forecast Models
Buoy Data SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only!
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Experimental Radar Still Image
Key West Experimental Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)
WFOR-TV/DT Miami (WMP) - http://dayport.wm.llnwd.net/dayport_0025_live"
WSVN-TV/DT Miami (WMP) - mms://216.242.118.141/broadband

Other Resources:

Florida East Coast Surf Reports Lots of great info here, including surf cams
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City

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

[CindyDawg]

lol. I was justing thinking about pulling my list out.

[brytlea]

What is BAMM?
susie (so dumb I make someone's brain hurt)

[shield]

[CindyDawg]

If we might get any kind of wind at all, I have to figure out how to stay on FR. I lost my DSL with Emily and almost went into DTs.

[NautiNurse]

Beef Jerky - Dang, I gotta hit the store!

lol - beef jerky is a storm staple here too. For the past two hurricane seasons, Sams Club has stocked a six pack of individual chicken salad tins, complete with crackers, and a tiny spoon. They are a storm favorite here.

[NautiNurse]

Awww...not you've gone and done it...

[Tarpon]

Well here it comes again. We got run over by Katrina when she was a pup, so Rita doesn't look so bad, yet.

[dc-zoo]

I'm near the Brownsville latitude line and just hope it hits in the ranch country and not Brownsville, Houston/Galveston, or N.O. I can't believe we've been talking like this since the second week of July.

[onyx]

Are all of the individually colored lines the possible paths?

[Dog Gone]

Once a person discovers the computer models and how to put them in motion, it opens up a whole new world. However, it also opens the possibility of thinking that you can predict the future with certainty.

If these computer models were reliable, there would only be one of them.

You have to look at ALL of them, even the ones that don't seem to reliably handle tropical weather. There are some ones I discount entirely, except to the extent I notice them and perhaps make fun of them.

But none of the models are right. That's why they change every six or 12 hours when they're run again.

All we should do with them is notice when they're in near complete agreement. At that point, they are almost certainly reliable. As long as they're giving different solutions, you should only look at their general trend.

I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know, NautiNurse. I'm only saying this for the people who might be new to the hurricane threads you put together so well.

[dc-zoo]

BAMM is one of two computer models pointing to N.O.

[NautiNurse]

The 11:00PM update tonight may have a small bag of surprises.

[CindyDawg]

My husband called me to the back yard awhile ago. We just got our fence all back together. There is a sub division going up behind us and Friday they surveyed. Our fence is about 4 inches off our property line. He said he guessed he was going to have to move it in. I mentioned he might want to wait because if this storm comes in this weekend, it might blow it down for him again. I didn't like the look he gave me and came on back in the house.

[brytlea]

Oh, who does that one?
susie

[NautiNurse]

I'm tempted to ping the whole hurricane list to your post. For now, we'll just steer the overt anxiety attacks to it.

[CindyDawg]

Hi. Now there are 5 of us here.

[fatima]

Not again,prayers for everyone.

[NautiNurse]

I mentioned he might want to wait because if this storm comes in this weekend, it might blow it down for him again.

eeesh...you didn't soften the punch at all.

[VirginiaMom]

Thank you for that very succint explantaion. I admit my ignorance of all of the "runs". I appreciate your taking the time to explain them to those of us that didn't understand them fully.

[Tarpon]

What have you heard? We are only 90 miles from Key west on the west coast of FL, so you got my attention. Cough it up :)