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Update: Category 5 Hurricane Rita - Live Thread, Part II
NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

Posted on 09/21/2005 1:36:24 AM PDT by 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


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Alabama; US: Florida; US: Louisiana; US: Mississippi; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: hurricane; katrina; katrinassister; rita; tropical; twinhurricanes
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To: BurbankKarl

OMG!!!!!!!! My tummy hurts looking at that picture. Check out his back pocket!


1,601 posted on 09/21/2005 12:49:48 PM PDT by chris1 ("Make the other guy die for his country" - George S. Patto)
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To: HoHoeHeaux

wind sheer, colder water, something to steer it to a less populated area - are any of these things in the cards now?


1,602 posted on 09/21/2005 12:49:48 PM PDT by oceanview
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To: oceanview

Howlin posted this last night.

http://www.sitesatlas.com/Maps/Maps/TX1.htm


1,603 posted on 09/21/2005 12:49:50 PM PDT by HoHoeHeaux
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To: NautiNurse

Is there a northerly jog in the last couple of loops......Anybody????


1,604 posted on 09/21/2005 12:49:55 PM PDT by Prolifeconservative (If there is another terrorist attack, the womb is a very unsafe place to hide.)
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So, the big announcement comes in about 15 minutes... Will I have to go to class tomorrow here at A&M or not?
1,605 posted on 09/21/2005 12:50:27 PM PDT by TexAgg_IE
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To: Arizona Carolyn

That will give him more brush and stuff to clean when he goes down there. He digs that stuff...back to reality for a little bit...


1,606 posted on 09/21/2005 12:50:45 PM PDT by duffthor (Is it fishing time yet?)
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To: Warren_Piece

I personally am partial to "unnngh".
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1235991/posts


1,607 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:09 PM PDT by cwiz24 (I worked very hard on this tagline.)
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Rita, over the last 2.5 hours has made a pronounced move toward the northwest. It looks like she has found a weakness in the upper-level ridge to her north and is starting the northward turn earlier than forecast. IMO, folks along the upper Texas coast and SW Louisiana are going to be at much greater risk than people along the mid and lower Texas coast.


1,608 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:26 PM PDT by TxWxguy
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To: Prolifeconservative
Is there a northerly jog in the last couple of loops

I sure thought I saw a couple of them but I didn't want to say anything because I've been wrong before. I'm not the only one this time I guess...:-)

1,609 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:44 PM PDT by Types_with_Fist (I'm on FReep so often that when I read an article at another site I scroll down for the comments.)
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To: NautiNurse
Best to see that a storm will sustain the winds, and thus the category rather than jump the gun for a record or to satisfy a thrill. There is no landfall between now and two hours from now to make a difference.

Amen to that. Also, with evacs still ongoing from the shoreline areas (which would be evacuated for Cat 1-2 hurricanes), and roughly 3 full days until landfall, it makes no sense to jump the gun.

1,610 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:47 PM PDT by steveegg ($3.00 a gallon is the price you pay for ANWR! Start drilling or stop whining! - HT Falcon4.0)
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To: oceanview

I'm looking at the updated modeling tracks, and they all seem to be converging on the shoreline about 50 miles south of Houston.

This puts Houston/Galveston on the NORTH side if the storm!

How far up the ship channel can surges go??


1,611 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:55 PM PDT by tcrlaf
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To: Revel

FEMA presser on.....all reporters want to talk about is Katrina. Shep on Fox is stuck on stupid about communications being inadequate because all equipment is being used in Iraq.....


1,612 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:55 PM PDT by Jrabbit (Kaufman County, Texas)
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To: Prolifeconservative

That's what I saw, too. Not enough to say for sure it's path is shifting...


1,613 posted on 09/21/2005 12:51:55 PM PDT by Rutles4Ever
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To: TexAgg_IE

Let us know! I may have a house full of Aggie 'evacuees' over the weekend afterall!


1,614 posted on 09/21/2005 12:52:21 PM PDT by AggieMom x 3 (Way north of Dallas)
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To: Prolifeconservative

Yes, northerly jog. And their talking about it on the EasternUS weather forum now too. Could be significant, might not be.


1,615 posted on 09/21/2005 12:52:52 PM PDT by LikeLight
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To: Prolifeconservative

I see a more WNW motion in the past few frames. I believe this was predicted earlier today to occur within 12 hours.


1,616 posted on 09/21/2005 12:53:11 PM PDT by NautiNurse (The task before us is enormous, but so is the heart of America.)
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To: wxguy

are you sure not a wobble?


1,617 posted on 09/21/2005 12:53:35 PM PDT by james_f_hall (Round Rock, Texas)
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To: Jrabbit

you can buy a satellite phone on the internet in about 5 minutes.


1,618 posted on 09/21/2005 12:53:35 PM PDT by oceanview
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To: NautiNurse
...I don't know why the title was changed to Cat 5 when the NHC has not published an update to that effect....

From: Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/show.html

Updated: 6:38 PM GMT on September 21, 2005

The 1:53 eye report from the hurricane hunters found a 920 mb pressure and flight level winds of 153 knots (176 mph). These numbers plus the satellite intensity estimates would ordinarily support upgrading Rita to a Category 5 hurricane, but NHC is being conservative, and calling Rita a strong Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph surface winds.

There are two hurricane hunter aircraft in Rita this afternoon. The NOAA hurricane hunters found a central pressure of 934 mb at 11:17 am, and the Air Force hurricane hunters found a central pressure of 923 mb at 1:02pm. This incredible drop of 11 mb in 105 minutes is the fastest pressure fall I can ever recall seeing in a hurricane, and exceeds the 10 mb drop in 100 minutes we saw in Hurricane Charley last year. With an eye diameter of 25 miles, an eyewall replacement cycle is not likely today, and Rita may intensify to a level close to Katrina's strongest point--902 mb.

1,619 posted on 09/21/2005 12:53:36 PM PDT by yatros from flatwater
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To: Jrabbit
No way he Shep did not say that???? I like Shep... I hope he does not transform in to a quisling media slime ball..
1,620 posted on 09/21/2005 12:53:43 PM PDT by Sprite518
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