Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Extremely dangerous and large Category Five Hurricane Rita is churning westward across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas. Air Force Reconnaissance indicated the central pressure has dropped to 904mb, making Rita the fifth most intense hurricane ever in the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches have been issued from Northern Mexico through the South Louisiana coastline. Galveston TX used school buses to evacuate residents. Mandatory and voluntary evacuations are in effect along the Texas coastline.

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 Western Gulf of Mexico
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana

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

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

FReeper Sign In Thread Check in to let us know whether you are staying, going, and when you get there
FReepers Offering Lodging To Rita Evacuees People and/or Pet Friendly FReepers Offering Shelter
Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston
Galveston Webcams
Golden Triangle Weather Page Provides Galveston Weather, Warnings, Radar, etc.

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 II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[dawn53]

Guess it's just my pragmatism rearing it's ugly head.

[ErnBatavia]

The airport's still open, flights out are still fairly cheap.

Thanks! The momma did some earlier checking and found that, altho open, there weren't available seats to anyplace (stress the word 'anyplace').

The dorm-girls will probably be OK; we found out a bit ago that Rice has "a plan"!

[SamAdams76]

Big storm out there.

[alancarp]

2 days 'til landfall to fret. The good news is that the evacs are well underway. I'll signoff. 'Night all.

[No Blue States]

"Who is going to Galveston to report?"

Who ever they are better have a boat.
Im not volunteering. ;)

All current warnings for Texas.

http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/tx/warnings.html

Local News:
NOLA levees still fragile, cant handle more than 3" rain.

[tcrlaf]

Didn't he say he was STAYING on the island??

Heck of a way to make your career, eh?

[not-alone]

Luck seems to be a big factor dealing with hurricanes

[yield 2 the right]

Yikes, if that track holds.....that could put Downtown Houston in the NE Quad very close to the eastern edge of the eyewall....http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/high_winds.shtml

[dawn53]

Yeppers, it is!

I was just watching the latest loop at NHC/NOAA and looks to me like it took a wobble to the south.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Thank you.

Many prayers for all of you! Many.

[Torie]

Ya, but there is still a fair amount of error attending it. There is less consensus about just where this storm will hit, than with Katrina. The gold standard model GFDL has the line where you say, but the NHS isn't buying it totally. But whether it is 30 miles east of Houston, or 60 miles, still results in a very catastrophic event.

[Revel]

"they are reporting here in Houston it will slow to stong cat3 by landfall"

They also predicted that Rita would max out at cat 4. One thing they have not got a clue about is intensity. Not for Katrina and not for Rita. So If I were living in Houston...I would not bet my life on the NWC forcast for intensity.

[Torie]

I meant west of Houston.

[steveegg]

Not quite 155 mph (that's the 48-hour forecast, something about 11-18 hours out from landfall), but still likely a "weakening" Category 4. It's still a Mack truck aimed at Texas.

[ErnBatavia]

My daughter has room in her apartment in College Station if she can get up there. It's about an hour and a half from Rice. Just let me know!!

Thanks...wifey's on the line right now with her Mom, and indications are that the girls will hunker down at Rice. FReepers are the greatest with their generosity!

[TheMom]

Cynical, but valid point.

[Zechariah_8_13]

We're in Austin, and not worried. I wouldn't be too concerned about them. Just make sure they don't try to cross any flooded riverbeds!

[Brad’s Gramma]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1488924/posts?page=965#965

[spycatcher]

"I just saw on another forum that Dr Albert Sherwinski who is an expert in "chaos cloud" theory is predicting Rita will explode to Cat O' 9 overnight and become a permanent feature on Earth just like the red dot on Jupiter!" LOL!

If he's wrong, I'm cancelling my Weekly World News subscription.

[RummyChick]

What was the deal about 600,000 homes being destroyed in Houston? Was it if it made a direct hit on Galveston at a Cat 4?