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

[sigSEGV]

Err. Wrong link

here:

http://thestormtrack.com/archives/2005/09/hurricane_rita_1.html

[epaul]

Hotels.com shows some available rooms in Fredericksburg, tx.

Also you might do a search for bed and breakfasts there. Nice place to spend the weekend anyway.

[Lemondropkid31]

I just looked at that and they say cat 3 for Sept 20th. This is the 21st

[burzum]

Push comes to shove - you can always dig a temporary latrine/trench.

You can also pour water into the back of your toilet to make it flush if necessary (if you lose water). This assumes that there is no problem with the sewage lines.

[Spktyr]

They're probably busy shutting down and trucking everything they can somewhere else. If nothing else, they're trying to secure everything. Remember, Katrina screwed NO over because the local government didn't give official warning until too late. Here, we get the warning early, which means that corporate bureaucracy starts executing the plans that they can't do until the evac orders start to be given.

[steveegg]

And the person that noted that also noted that it was likely a high estimate. For the record, the NHC also noted that, and went on the low side.

We'll know more once the next Vortex Data Message rolls in.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The programs that analyze sat pics for pressure and wind speed put this storm at 160 mph winds...they are waiting for verification from the airflight to confirm.

[jpsb]

Pasadena, is close to ship channel, might get a surge there, I am expecting 14 foot surge in galveston bay. That is what Carla did, this one looks alot like Carla.

[Spktyr]

And you would want to waste drinking water because....

[steveegg]

New Vortex Data Message -

000
URNT12 KNHC 211600Z
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 21/1517Z
B. 24 DEG 11 MIN N
   85 DEG 42 MIN W
C. 700 MB 2522 M
D. 65 KT
E. 070 DEG 27 NM
F. 180 DEG 137 KT
G. 075 DEG 09 NM
H. 934 MB
I. 12 C/ 3056 M
J. 22 C/ 3062 M
K. 07 C/ NA
L. CLOSED WALL
M. C25
N. 12345/7
O. 1/1 NM
P. NOAA3 WX18A RITA OB 07
   MAX FL WIND 137 KT E QUAD 1516Z

[sheikdetailfeather]

http://www.woai.com/

(San Antonio Clear Channel Station link)

[Jaded]

mark

[No Blue States]

I will ping you to anything I think would interest you.

Stay safe bud.

[james_f_hall]

Sorry. Not "officially" a 5.

[yatros from flatwater]

And just to help out:
Xanadu, Xandy, Xanto, Xavier, Xerxes, Xenophon, Xylon

[daybreakcoming]

Pressure down to 934

[JFC]

W is on Fox now, he is TICKED! He is tired of the dims gloom and doom attitudes. You can hear it in his voice!

[dirtboy]

My parents are in Victoria, don't know what they're going to do.

How old are they? Victoria will probably suffer extensive tree damage and some structural damage at the least. They may be looking at weeks without power. Can your parents cope with that?

[Iwo Jima]

Are you saying "Pee in the tank, not in the bowl?"

[janetjanet998]

934mb and that recon is an hour old..looking better all the time....and they havent got to the NE part yet...likley 145-150 flight level winds there...