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

[AnAmericanMother]

Look at the size of the two lane highway in the lower left of the picture. That is an ENORMOUS levee - it doesn't look all that tall because the slope is very shallow to have a good "angle of repose". If I recall correctly from the 1980s when I worked on a flood wall case, that's called a constant or continuous-slope buttress.

I had to hunt around for an aerial shot, because a levee ordinarily doesn't look like much. My dad is from Rome GA which has levees too . . . but you don't notice them much other than that it's a good place to walk the dog or ride your bike.

Until they break that is . . .

[CindyDawg]

Watching TWC just wasn't the same without him.

[Sally'sConcerns]

Don't worry too much about Houston being able to take care of our own. Because of the evacuees the infrastructure is already in place. The donations have been unbelievable, they've had to turn away people donating for the time being. Also, Houston has consolidated the three major shelters they were using into one this last week because they've managed to place so many of the evacuees in apartments and in other places.

I remember when Carla came through and my sister has told me lots of stories about Alicia. Remeber how big Houston is and unlike NO, we've got schools and other buildings that can be used as shelters while the storms is going on.

It wouldn't be fun, there'd be damage and things would be bad but I don't think we'd be looking at near the problems we're seeing in NO or Gulfport/Biloxi.

Galveston might be another story though depending on how big the hurricane is and exactly where landfall occurred.

We'll just have to say our prayers and hope the US doesn't suffer another Katrina anytime soon and that any hurricanes that hit the Texas coast go in at the stretch around Corpus and Brownsville that isn't very inhabited.

(Y'know, it's hard not to talk as if I still live in Houston when I was raised there and still have close family there. Sorry about that!)

[Tall_Texan]

All significant hurricanes have their names retired so as to prevent confusion. That's why you'll never have another Hurricane Audrey or Betsy or Camille or Andrew, etc. There will never be another Katrina now either.

Minimal hurricanes have had their names recycled.

[CindyDawg]

I guess but it doesn't even look like it covers the trees. It looks like a big ditch to me. I was expecting something like a dam with lots of concrete:') My first thought was that it looked like a pretty nature trail.

[SuziQ]

Yep!! Never thought I'd see the day I'd have hurricane named after me. I really don't remember them getting this far along before, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Levi's.

[CindyDawg]

Houston also is spread out. I too was there during
alicia. Actually, I was in Crosby. My mobile home was destroyed but we stayed at my BILs that night on the west side and it wasn't bad. Going back, the ramps were flooded and a lot of windows out and we were without power for 2 weeks but life went on.

[SuziQ]

We used to live in Panama City Florida (military) and we were issued hurricane maps and it was incredible to see the paths they took and how they twisted and turned and went out and came back.

We have a Fish Camp on the coast of MS, and we used to spend every summer there. Every year, when I was growing up, my Daddy got a HUGH hurricane tracking map. He would follow every storm, and by the end of the season, it was wild to see the lines going every which way.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I always liked watching John Hope, too.

[BigSkyFreeper]

All significant hurricanes have their names retired so as to prevent confusion. That's why you'll never have another Hurricane Audrey or Betsy or Camille or Andrew, etc. There will never be another Katrina now either.

Yep. I just thought it was rather interesting that he named hurricane Camille after his daughter.

[Ellesu]

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/omd/ops/weather/plots/storm_18.gif


http://euler.atmos.colostate.edu/~vigh/guidance/

Thanks, I know it's early, but I do hope state OEP is paying attention to Rita and not focusing all their attention on Katrina. If any part of your state is in the cone, you should be keeping an eye on it.

[Sally'sConcerns]

I was going to mention how spread out Houston is. After all, it can take 1.5 hours to cross with good traffic flow. I decided against it because Katrina was a big storm and affected a large area. If we were hit by another Katrina type I don't know that it would matter all that much if you were in Kingwood or Sugar Land. Both might get punched in a pretty close timeframe.

[onyx]

I was afraid you'd tell me that...lol.

[MobileLiam]

Here is a link I have almost worn out lately. It has a sat. loop with superimposed forecast points.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-vis-loop.html

[dogbyte12]

Echoing that. The models really started lining up maybe 36 hours before Katrina hit. That is when I knew it was time to get out of dodge into the shelter.

Anybody in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi should anyways have their disaster supplies/plans ready and keep tuned to the news.

[onyx]

A hurricane bearing my name would be a NICE one, no?

[Dog Gone]

Katrina hasn't had her name officially retired yet, but you're absolutely right. Her name will be retired, and she's the first storm in over a century to destroy a major American city. The earlier one wasn't named.

[Cboldt]

The Gulf has had three weeks to re-warm since Katrina.

The down-side to the "good weather" blessing is sunshine on the Gulf of Mexico, fuel for storms that happen by.

[CindyDawg]

I sometimes keep the weather channel on as I work around the house. When it would go to him, I would stop and listen. :')