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

[GiveEmDubya]

Great analogy, but a TERRIBLE mental image.

[roses of sharon]

My family has a beachhouse on Crystal Beach, can you imagine it surviving?

[NautiNurse]

I have a big a*s SUV too that I like to take on long trips but I'm tired of putting $80 a tank to fill it up.

Then buy a Yugo, and ride your bike to the grocery store. Quit whining. We can debate your argument another day...and I look forward to it. Meanwhile, your opinion is inappropriate for this thread.

[Ramius]

What's so wrong with buying up foreign oil?

If it is indeed going to run out someday... shouldn't we burn up theirs first? Save ours for later... :-)

[tobyhill]

I apologize for the unwelcome original post. I've actually donated $200+ and I already filled up.

[BurbankKarl]

That will be $200 next week....

I have a big a*s SUV too that I like to take on long trips but I'm tired of putting $80 a tank to fill it up.

[meyer]

After one hour on the phone convincing my titanium-cranium father to get out, and two others on the phone finding them a hotel this late in the game, I can either go do laundry ... or drink beer.

One can do both, you know! ;)

[tomkat]

would you please just stfu ??

[steveegg]

Am I the only one who physically jumped a little when I saw that number? Wow! That is some rapid intensification. And not even in the Gulf loop yet!

That's 30 mb in 6 hours.

[TChris]

The people will leave but the compound in anger is already developing and you are exactly right, people shouldn't have to worry about it. No I don't hope that but it's inevitable with an industry that bases profit over disaster.

You really need to study up on economics. There are enough FReepers who understand the subject that this type of unsubstantiated BS just ain't gonna fly. Keep this up, and you may as well get used to being heavily ridiculed and despised.

Oh, and if you really want to learn about economics, I strongly recommend "Basic Economics" by Thomas Sowell. You can probably find it at your local library.

[GOP_Thug_Mom]

we counted 9 named hurricanes this year...

[shezza]

I don't know about you, but that gives me goosebumps. Thanks for posting the pic.

[dirtboy]

One can do both, you know! ;)

Nah, I tend to get the Tide and the Clorox confused after a few beers...

[nwctwx]

81mb drop in just over 24 hours... truly amazing.

[tobyhill]

Do they still make Yugos? I could probably fit 3 of them in my SUV.

[NautiNurse]

Howlin is the keeper of African tropical system graphics.

I prefer to deal with just one storm at a time...

[Strategerist]

18Z Runs of the GFS and NGP have a fairly significant shift north, considering how closely clustered things were at 12Z.

Full runs not in yet.

[meyer]

On ,man .. that eye is wound tighter than Rosie ODonell in Spandex.

Now that's a Cat-5 ugly thought.

[steveegg]

Whoa Nellie. And at 39k, it's safe to post.

[Ditter]

We are staying for the storm to secure our property and our livestock. I won't stay after the storm without A/C for longer than a couple of days to find kennel to board my dogs and nice a hotel in Santa Fe NM or someplace else wonderful.