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

[TXBSAFH]

I will keep them in my prayers.

[MozartLover]

"We're closer to San Antonio "

My son is currently in the San Antonio area.........he's training for deployment (he's a medic with the WI National Guard)and was at Camp Shelby MS when Katrina blew through.............so much of the medical equipment was damaged there that the medics had to re-locate to Camp Bullis TX to continue their training.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

During Katrina, my friend who lives in Corinth reported 10 inches of rain and winds in the 50 mile per hour range...and Corinth is on the Tennessee Mississippi border...a long way from landfall...

[OKSooner]

I'll tell you this: The South Texas Project is a living nightmare on earth. Don't take my word for it though, ask any Texan who's been paying attention over the last 20 years. It's an evil place.

Even the electric companies in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio have moved to put as much distance between themselves and STP as they can.

It's really a well-kept secret for the most part, though.

[NTegraT]

RE: weather channel. Did she really? I missed that boob saying that.

[CindyDawg]

she's the one that said we don't need weather satellites because we have the weather channel! LOL

Oh, she didn't. Please tell me she's not that empty.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Sheila Jackson Lee should be sent up with the Mars probe and left there, next to the American flag she said Neil Armstrong planted there!

[janetjanet998]

OFFICIAL NEW DATA- 944mb est..140 MPH(may be getting updated data again within 20 minutes)..forecast takes it to border line Cat4/5 at 155MPH..

[Ron H.]

Anyone know what the political party Hoston Mayor Bill White is with?

Dimicrats.

[JFC]

I just don't see how we can have a good Dem! They have all made me have rot gut.

[milagro]

Thanks for a wondeful laugh in the midst of this! How hilarious!

[burzum]

No. It was a Cat 4 on landfall. Sometimes wind speed is increased on a quadrant of a storm due to the movement of the storm itself. If the storm is moving at 15 miles per hour and the wind speeds are 150, then the total will be 165. The same weakens the opposite quadrant (150 -> 135).

[NTegraT]

Well, there's lots of intelligent, competent Dems, the problem with them is how they vote.

[TXBSAFH]

I trained a Camp Bullis back in my reserve days, I feel his pain. It is a pit.

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita Advisory Number 16
Statement as of 10:00 am CDT on September 21, 2005

...Rita remains an extremely dangerous hurricane...winds now
estimated 140 mph winds...

 
at 11 am EDT...1500z...the Tropical Storm Warning for the
Florida Keys from the Marquesas Keys westward to the Dry Tortugas
has been discontinued.

 
A Hurricane Watch will likely be issued for portions of the
northwest Gulf of Mexico coast later today or this evening.

 
Interests in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico should monitor the
progress of dangerous Hurricane Rita.

 
For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.

 
At 10 am CDT...1500z...the eye of Hurricane Rita was located near
latitude 24.3 north...longitude  85.9 west or about  260 miles...
west of Key West Florida and about 755 miles east-southeast of
Corpus Christi Texas.

 
Rita is moving toward the west near 13 mph and this motion is
expected to continue during the next 12 to 24 hours.

 
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 140 mph...with higher
gusts. Rita is a extremely dangerous category four hurricane on the
Saffir-Simpson scale. Some additional strengthening is forecast
during the next 24 hours and could reach category five intensity in
the central Gulf of Mexico. 

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the
center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up
to 140 miles. The wind field associated with Rita is forecast to
expand during the next day or two.

 
Estimated minimum central pressure is 944 mb...27.88 inches.

Repeating the 10 am CDT position...24.3 N... 85.9 W.  Movement
toward...west near 13 mph.  Maximum sustained winds...140 mph. 
Minimum central pressure... 944 mb.

 
The next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
4 PM CDT.

 
Forecaster Avila

[AlexW]

"she's the one that said we don't need weather satellites because we have the weather channel! LOL"

Surly you jest !! I know she was looking for the American Flag on Mars, but she can't really be THAT stupid. Well, now that I think about it, yea, she probably is.

[rwfromkansas]

oh dear. This thing may have time to go annular possibly as soon as it is getting that strong.

[meyer]

Here's one that runs without batteries:

The Grundig Radio

[janetjanet998]

698 WTNT43 KNHC 211447 TCDAT3 HURRICANE RITA DISCUSSION NUMBER 16 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 11 AM EDT WED SEP 21 2005

THE RECONNAISSANCE PLANE WILL NOT BE IN THE AREA OF RITA UNTIL LATER THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE CLOUD PATTERN IS TYPICAL OF AN INTENSE HURRICANE WITH A CLEAR EYE SURROUNDED BY VERY DEEP CONVECTION. INITIAL INTENSITY IS ADJUSTED UPWARD TO 120 KNOTS AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...OBJECTIVE T-NUMBERS FROM BOTH TAFB AND THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN CIMSS ARE PEAKING NEAR 7.0 ON THE DVORAK SCALE...SUGGESTING WINDS OF NEAR 140 KNOTS. I WILL WAIT FOR THE PLANE TO REACH RITA TO INCREASE THE WINDS FURTHER...IF NECESSARY

[CindyDawg]

We have a few very good democrats here. That's the only way they can win. They would be republicans or independents elsewhere.