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

[Steve_Seattle]

" . . . and twelve-foot alligators with two heads living out in the cooling reservoir."

Tell me that's a joke.

[smartin]

It's a monster!

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USNationalWide.asp?loc=usa&seg=StormCenter&prodgrp=FloaterImagery&product=Float5Loop&prodnav=none&pid=none

[OrangeDaisy]

I didn't compare the times of model results to the ones you posted, but here are the model results shown by wunderground. http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200518_model.html

[CedarDave]

Read this inspiring story of the USS Iwo Jima's response to Katrina at this link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1488592/posts

(p.s. -- Hand cranked radios are great; I got mine from the C Crane catalog for Y2K problems, which didn't come to pass)

[Jrabbit]

Someone last night posted that she bought the wind up radio at Bed Bath and Beyond.....

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Of course, ya' kinda' have to get past the thought of detonating a thermo-nuclear device in our backyard...

Or blowing up a hundred rigs in the Gulf too....

[sweet_diane]

I don't know if I've seen a lamp like you described. The old beach cottage we had in Gulf Shores was never prepped for storms, we just closed it and hoped for the best! My grandpa built it in the 1940's and Fredric took it out in 1979.

I see you are in The Woodlands. I know some folks there... heck, I remember when The Woodlands was built! lol Stay safe!

[NautiNurse]

I have the Summit FreePlay Can't overwind it, also has solar panel, as well as A/C adapter. Shortwave and digital tuning too. Remarkably small. A tad pricey, but worth it.

[bwteim]

The other thing to keep in mind that plain old telephones will often work when power is out - when the fancy ones requiring the power adapter will NOT work.

[NautiNurse]

Good news...a NOAA plane is enroute to the storm.

[sweet_diane]

I'm glad you mentioned phones...will remind my sister. After Katrina I found that I had given away all but one non cordless phone! We used our daughters Hello Kitty phone for 2 days. All that didn't work on it was the little heart that lights up when it rings.

[Lemondropkid31]

Thanks you! I called them, and the guy said that they are all sold out everywhere. They only have a couple of shortwave radios left

[WoodstockCat]

what about help from Aquaman...sorry saw too many Saturday morning "SuperFriends" growing up...

[Lemondropkid31]

really? I didnt think about them. I would have to go to the Woodlands to get one from there

[steveegg]

Good news...a NOAA plane is enroute to the storm.

May it find Rita weaker than predicted.

[4everontheRight]

I would try Circuit City or Best Buy or even the local grocery stores...this time of year you never know. Also Sears or maybe specialty shops in the mall like Hammacher Schlemmer. At this point I would pay more at the gadget place!

[alnick]

When Katrina got up to New Orleans and the MS coast, it was 'just' a Cat 3..

That may be what was reported, but Katrina came into Slidell, LA with winds of 174 MPH and gusts up to 190. That's a category 5, isn't it?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

About the same place. If I were living between Freeport and Corpus, I would be very, very nervous, packing and leaving. If I were living between Baytown and Freeport, I would be watching the storm like a hawk.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

The Grundig FR200 receives AM (530-1710 kHz), FM 88-108 MHz and shortwave in two bands: 3.2-7.6 and 9.2-22 MHz.
I bought mine at Radio Shack for around $39 (plus tax). Actually I had a Radio Shack gift card and actually "paid" half that. :-)

[Lemondropkid31]

Thanks. They are all sold out unfortunately