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

[CajunConservative]

Also check out churches along the route out of harms way. Just get out and if worse comes to worse hang out at a Super Walmart or mall or somewhere safe from the elements during the height of the storm. Just get out while you can.

[TrebleRebel]

Apparently Gilbert holds the wrold record at 888.

[burzum]

An annular hurricane has a large amount of convection in the eyewall but little elsewhere. It is also extremely symmetric with a very circular eyewall. It resembles a donut or a buzzsaw. It's easier to see an example to describe it:

http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/pub/goes/030913.isabel.gif
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/NOAA-Hurricane-Katrina-Aug28-05-2145UTC.jpg

Compare to Rita:
http://www.usawx.com/sept2110ampowerfulritagrows.jpg

If you look at the pictures, I'm sure you'll see why I don't think Rita is quite annular yet.

[TrebleRebel]

Apparently Gilbert holds the world record at 888.

[blam]

"In my area we have lots of stables. Just a little short on wise men. :^)"

I have a spare bedroom for any FReepers who want to make the eight hour drive from Houston to Mobile, I have one wise man, ahem.

[janetjanet998]

not world record the atlantic basin record...

[SE Mom]

Actually- Gilbert made two landfalls- it hit Cozumel first as a Cat 5 with the 888mb. Then it went to Northern Mexico and 2nd landfall was as a cat 3.

You're right- it was a monster- the 888mb is still the lowest recorded in the U.S.

[Professional Engineer]

Honey, we're gonna get wet.

[myprecious]

Can you drive from Houston to Mobile yet? Is I10 open all the way?

[ladyjane]

I only suggested writing the SS# with a magic marker as a means of scaring the heck out of her so she would evacuate. If you have two little girls - get to a safe place immediately. I am sure there are freepers who could find a place for you to stay.

[laz]

I don't mean to dispute your tagging her this. But, is it really fair? Aren't Baboons rather intelligent?

I've never believed in the theory of evolution, but I'm willing to allow for the possibility that homo sapiens of the leftist persuasion may, in fact, have evolved from apes. They certainly seem to be a different species entirely, only similar to the rest of us in outward appearance.

[Jrabbit]

You have mail....:-)

[WoodstockCat]

but that's not at landfall correct?
888 mb was during the storm formation but not at landfall right?

[Sprite518]

Thanks for the link.... I guess the only question now is what kind of Cat 5 will it be. Yes Cat 5's are strong, but in the strong catagory how strong?

[SE Mom]

EXCELLENT! I knew you'd get to that pretty soon:)

[Republican Red]

Seriously. Get your self out of there now!

Get in your car and drive northwest out of Texas. There will be plenty of rooms farther out.

[blam]

"Can you drive from Houston to Mobile yet? Is I10 open all the way?"

Take I-12 at Baton Rouge and reconnect with I-10 at Slidell. That's the way I normally go to Houston anyway...it's shorter and also by-passes NO.

[Sprite518]

I bet the wind speed had to be around 200MPH..

[janetjanet998]

it was a CAT5 when it first made landfall in mexico but i think the pressure rose a tad from the 988 recorded at on point

[texas_brewer]

We will probably leave tomorrow even though we are on the north side. I'm concerned with trees falling on the house. We have a 2 story house and the pines are taller than it is and very large. I'm not having my kids sit there during the storm. We were thinking of riding it out in a nearby shelter. I heard Conroe ISD will be opening up schools soon.