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

[AliVeritas]

Rutles, thanks for reminding me.

[burzum]

That is the earthquake scale....

The moment magnitude scale for earthquakes is based on energy, not damage. The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale (and I believe I am correct) is for the amount of damage. It was invented because prior to its implementation there was no way to accurately estimate the devastation caused by a hurricane. The damage is listed by the typical description of damage (i.e weak, moderate, extensive, extreme, and catastrophic). The rule of 10 is just a rule of thumb. The damage any hurricane causes depends on several factors including the location it hits, the tide, the wind speeds, its size, etc. I tend to believe the rule of 10 is fairly accurate though.

[Sprite518]

If you dread it, then why are you staying?

[tobyhill]

Since you're so intelligent, you tell everyone what will it take for the US to once again build new refineries short of total devastation from the current market we're in? $10 a gallon + may do it?

[MSCASEY]

New Oreleans will more than likely get nailed again!

Ms. Casey's Daughter

[kimmie7]

NN, will you add me to your ping list when you get the chance, please?

Thanks!

[Jaded]

Cell and regular phone service has been kind of weird here today. I'm leaving as soon as I get home.

To the rest of you.... stay safe.... stay dry and keep in touch.

j

[Spktyr]

The same place we found all the men to step across that line in the sand in a small Spanish mission in 1836 - they were already here.

Texas - it really IS a whole different country.

[Dog Gone]

I hope this wipes out every oil rig and refinery on the coast.

Hmmm, that's my livelihood you're wanting destroyed.

[No Blue States]

I noticed that too on this loop.

The NHC has Rita going directly over the intersection of 90W and 25N show here:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/205648.shtml?3day?large

It appears as if she is going to miss that rendezvous show here:

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/ramm/rmsdsol/TROPICAL.html

A wobble to the SW would be nice.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

How about Johnson Space Center and related facilities for one?

[NautiNurse]

done

[r9etb]

It is estimated that each level causes about 10 times as much damage as the one previous. This means that a Cat 5 is 10,000 times as damaging as a Cat 1.

Not an expert, but I think the previous poster mixed up his earthquake and hurricane scales.

In terms of wind, the power of a hurricane is (IIRC) a function of wind speed squared. Transition from a 120 mph to a 160 mph storm would be a factor of about 1.8 times more powerful.

[Jaded]

I'm leaving after I get off werk. I know what you're yelling at your computer screen!

[Sprite518]

I just have a hard time thinking this thing is slowing down given the fact it is over warm bath water... I hope their right, and I am wrong...

[RummyChick]

Hard to believe that idiot Nagin was telling people to come back when a Hurricane was forecasted to come their way. Bastardi said they were predicting this last week.

And then Nagin bitched about the Feds telling him it wasn't a good idea to bring people back.

[jpsb]

thx

[SpottedBeaver]

Whoaaahhh! Am I reading this right? 72 hours out from now, puts the storm close to or over Dallas, according the models. The blue line indicates still a Cat 1 or just below. Our local newscaster on Fox4 was saying that it was going to be a Tropical Storm by the time it gets here.

That is going to put a very large dent in the entire state of Texas.

[tobyhill]

My point is meant to be exxagerated, I don't really want that but the US must find a way to end our dependence on foreign crude product but I'm starting to wonder if it can happen short of my "exxageration"? If we're going to freak out over every hurricane then that alone should tell the eco-twirps and oil giants somethings wrong.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Local news in Orlando had evacuees from New Orleans and they said they don't want to go back there. At least Texas is making sure they are out of harms way. (Praying for all in Texas)