Update: Category 5 Hurricane Rita - Live Thread, Part II

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Category 3 Hurricane Rita became the fifth major hurricane of the 2005 season during the night. Hurricane Rita threaded the needle through the Florida Straits and moved into the Gulf of Mexico. Storm damage in the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula was light, with scattered power outages, scattered tornados, and mild to moderate flooding.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect for Galveston County TX and New Orleans. Additional evacuation orders in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area are anticipated throughout the day.

Crude oil prices reacted as oil producers shut down and evacuated workers from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

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 Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Buoy Data Western Gulf of Mexico
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston

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 I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[cowgirlcutie]

A fellow Tylerite! I do medical transcription for a local surgeon right behind ETMC. The helicopters have been flying over all morning from the South, coming into ETMC.

[Cap Huff]

Godspeed!

[Jacktown]

If anyone is still looking for hotel rooms:
There is an NHRA Drag Racing National this weekend in Ennis. If it is cancelled, there will be some hotel rooms available tomorrow.
Start checking around that area for rooms. Most have been booked for months and are reserved for Thursday thru Monday. Call the hotel instead of going online. Sometimes they say the rooms are booked on line but are still available when you call them up.

[NautiNurse]

Thank you very much for checking in. Hope to hear from you when you arrive at your destination. Take care.

[steveegg]

Good luck, and stay safe.

[Jrabbit]

I'm still searching......Poor Jaded. Looks like she and her mom will have to go all the way to Ok. Hubby is checking from work with contacts. I've so far checked everything east from Mesquite. I'll start going more west. Nothing as far north as Denton, so far.

[daybreakcoming]

We may be into entirely new territory with this storm where we don't know the rules.

That may well be the understatement of the hurricane season.:o)

[Republican Red]

Good Luck! Stay Safe! Post your staus when you can.

[Spktyr]

Yup.


On the bright side, we're about to see an irrefutable comparison between what happens when Katrina hit the blue state of LA and when Rita hits the Red State of Texas. I'm sure that Texas and the Republicans will come off looking immensely better. With luck, this will signal the beginning of the final decline of the Dems - the party that left 250,000 people to die in New Orleans.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

175 kt at flight level...means the storm is entered Cat 5 range, although the offical announcement hasn't come out yet...would mean surface winds at the 155-157 mph level....

[Sprite518]

I knew this sucker would turn to a Cat 5.. We just had one 3 weeks ago.. The water is perfect for another Cat 5.... Talk about a one two punch to the gulf coast. Expect Gas to Sky rocket, and of course the libs will be screaming Bush's Fault...

[janetjanet998]

yes its possible she could weaken with an ERC, then the wind field will expand(it is huge already) but then the max winds will increase again as the cycle completes...impossible to predict..
lets juts hopes it hit the rather unpopulated area realativly speaking 80-100 miles south of houston to minimize damage(which is looking more likley

[Republican Red]

According to Rush the AP was running a story this morning that Democrats, led by Harry Reid, are already calling for an investigation as to why the response is so much better than for LA.

I kid you not.

Does this loon really want it spelled out for him?????

[numberonepal]

Was that meant for me, or is someone missing the answer to a good question?

[RDTF]

http://www.storm2k.org/wx/

[No Blue States]

Rita 12am 9-21-05 CAT 5.

[sheikdetailfeather]

We will be praying and have been for all of you and good luck to you. I am in Florida but I feel like a Texan in my heart right now. You all helped New Orleans. Let the whole world help all of you.

[laz]

I have a "fast horse" but I do need your prayers..

You've got them, as does everyone else in the path of this thing.

[kinghorse]

I love it when they blow up this far out. That's a fortunate thing I suppose. Nowhere to go but down.

There is a point the water turns over so fast the colder deep water impedes further strengthening. Correct?

Meanwhile I am worried about property in Houston. Trying to figure out how to trim that 40 foot palm tree!

[nanetteclaret]

Did they check up I-30? East of Mesquite is I-20; east of Garland is I-30. I would think there would be some rooms available, since it's the route to Arkansas and not Louisiana. There are a lot of motels along this route.