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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
EEk thanks for that map. We have so many trees on the property here many of which cracked right off during a storm we had here a few months ago.
I have run into many evacuees that have come here to hunker down. One of which is an Exxon guy who took his family out of a city south of Houston. He said their weather reports are from their own service, I will try to find out more today. Yesterday he said Matagorda was the target at that point in time. Everything east of that is in danger of storm surge.
I spent three years in Austin and my brother in law is a cop there. I'm sending my family there tomorrow. She will be fine IF she is not in a flood prone area in one of the valleys and is prepared for no water or electricity for 5 days.
Also consider that motel/hotel space is for the most part naught for the Austin area, at least those ones that list on the internet. Sister and I spent hours on the net and phone yesterday looking for space as far north as Temple with no real luck. I finally called one of my daughters in Waco and asked her to get out her local phone book and she found us 4 rooms at a decent local motel and we immediately jumped on them. On the internet there showed to be no rooms left after about 2PM for 200+ miles north of Houston. So, people might want to keep that in mind as there are still rooms available that don't list on the net.
Leave the first one on the front sidewalk and you should have 1699 rounds left!
My little brother lives in Houston...I imagine his family will head up to B/CS to stay with my parents. I don't know what he will do...he works for a major oil company and he just emailed me, said he was dealing with the rig situation right now.
so are we.....rain bands have been coming through since Monday night...
That's what I'm thinking. Not a happy thought.
I agree on the batteries and gas. Prayers for all along the Texas coast. May God have mercy.
..what's the prognosis?
Amen
If you are in Texas, it's time to call in the dogs, pee on the fire and head for the hills.
Ausitn's power grid is pretty dependable. If we get tornados like we did during Alan(1980) things might get alittle more interesting.
I'm abit concerned about the nuke reactors outside of Bay city, near Matagorda. Looks like possible landfall area.
DIE RITA!!!!!
Plus there is some sort of music festival scheduled for this weekend in Austin. Alot of rooms in Austin have been reserved for folks going to that. I would head north toward DFW where there are bound to be lots of rooms. I am inclined to advise my mom to stay in Austin. If she is going to leave, I would think she should do it this afternoon or evening.
..but my son lives about 5 miles from the Arburetum....close to a preserve and springs.
Should I be worried?
Do you really think they will be without water/power?
For the second document, the hurricane info begins on page 8.
BREAKING...CAT 5(unoffically) DVORAK TECHNIQUE estimating 160-165 MPH winds now and a presuure of 917mb..will be interesting to see how the NHC handles this..will they upgrade to CAT 5 now or wait until recon gets in there
Thanks.
That is a great idea. I would have never thought of that.
Which agency? SAB and AFWA both have T 6.0 at 8AM, which is 115 knots, and they only do a Dvorak analysis every 6 hours.
And there's only one other official agency, TAFB, that does them.
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