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

[thoughtomator]

Katrina was NOT CAT 5!

[Miss Marple]

Oh, no! That front looks like it is headed southeast, which means Indianapolis will get hit, too.

The worst tornado I can remember in Indianapolis hit us in September 3 years ago. Good luck!

[agrace]

Yep, I was right, it DOES make a great tagline. :)

[Strategerist]

The "Background Pressure" in the Pacific is lower (the normal pressure without a storm), and winds are caused by pressure differences, so an 870mb storm in the Pacific is really like an 885 mb storm in the Atlantic, typically.

[nwctwx]

HURRICANE RITA TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
650 PM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

...RITA BECOMES THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE ON RECORD...

DROPSONDE DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT AT 623 PM CDT...2323Z...INDICATED THE CENTRAL PRESSURE HAS
FALLEN TO BELOW 899 MB...OR 26.55 INCHES. THE DROPSONDE INSTRUMENT
MEASURED 32 KT/35 MPH WINDS AT THE SURFACE...WHICH MEANS IT LIKELY
DID NOT RECORD THE LOWEST PRESSURE IN THE EYE OF RITA. THE CENTRAL
PRESSURE IS PROBABLY AT LEAST AS LOW AS 898 MB...AND PERHAPS EVEN
LOWER. FOR OFFICIAL PURPOSES... A PRESSURE OF 898 MB IS ASSUMED...
WHICH NOW MAKES RITA THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE IN TERMS OF
PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. SOME ADDITIONAL DEEPENING AND
INTENSIFICATION IS POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS OR SO.

RITA CURRENTLY RANKS BEHIND HURRICANE GILBERT IN 1988 WITH 888 MB
AND THE 1935 LABOR DAY HURRICANE WITH 892 MB.

FORECASTER STEWART

$$

[SE Mom]

BREAKING- 890mb.....................

[abb]

898

[steveegg]

NHC 6:50 pm CDT update (they didn't wait the 10 minutes to include this in the 7 pm update) -

000
WTNT63 KNHC 212351
TCUAT3
HURRICANE RITA TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
650 PM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

...RITA BECOMES THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE ON RECORD...

DROPSONDE DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT AT 623 PM CDT...2323Z...INDICATED THE CENTRAL PRESSURE HAS
FALLEN TO BELOW 899 MB...OR 26.55 INCHES. THE DROPSONDE INSTRUMENT
MEASURED 32 KT/35 MPH WINDS AT THE SURFACE...WHICH MEANS IT LIKELY
DID NOT RECORD THE LOWEST PRESSURE IN THE EYE OF RITA. THE CENTRAL
PRESSURE IS PROBABLY AT LEAST AS LOW AS 898 MB...AND PERHAPS EVEN
LOWER. FOR OFFICIAL PURPOSES... A PRESSURE OF 898 MB IS ASSUMED...
WHICH NOW MAKES RITA THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE IN TERMS OF
PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. SOME ADDITIONAL DEEPENING AND
INTENSIFICATION IS POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS OR SO.

RITA CURRENTLY RANKS BEHIND HURRICANE GILBERT IN 1988 WITH 888 MB
AND THE 1935 LABOR DAY HURRICANE WITH 892 MB.

FORECASTER STEWART

[don-o]

wdsu giving 898 = 185 wind

[ElephantinTexas]

HERE'S THE LASTEST FROM SAN ANTONIO, TX.

To start, thanks for these threads and all your hard work, NN.

San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Asso. says 98% hotels are full. Closest are in Lubbuck, Amarillo0 and El Paso.

ALL evacuees need to go to McCreless Mall at I-37 and Southcross Rd. It is a "shelter hub" and can give you directions to all San Antonio shelters and as one shelter fills up, they can send you to others as they open up. GO TO THE MALL FIRST. IT IS OUR STAGING AREA.

Freeman Coliseum (SBC Center) has 183 acres of land and all of those barns we use for the live stock show
to house large live stock coming to town and will also train all those who want to help the Red Cross. (use the West entrance off Commerce St.)

There are 100's of FEMA 18-wheelers, with more coming, full of ice, water, cots and other supplies being staged at Fort Sam Houston and 150+, with more coming busses being staged at Camp Bullis.

Lots of stuff going on in San Antonio as we again gear up to help folks out. I'll update when I get it.

Carl

[blam]

"Something very peculiar is going on."

Nah. We're still coming out of the last Ice Age. 1100 years ago, Cat-5's were frequent.

[Howlin]

LOL.....such an honor, eh?

[andysandmikesmom]

I have to agree with your post #72...why people make such nasty comments is beyond me...to wish for those in NO to suffer, as opposed to those in TX, is just plain evil and cruel...

When Katrina struck, I was really shocked at the number of absolutely disgusting posts that appeared, almost cheering the loss of an American city....posturing that since NO was such an evil city, it deserved to be destroyed...saying that NO was destroyed because it was such an evil place...people who make such comments are are vile..

I have seen people on all sorts of FR threads, wishing for the whole west coast to be destroyed and dumped into the ocean...that always offends me personally as I have family in Washington State(where I live), and have family in both Oregon and California...how evil of some jerk to wish for my death, the death of my husband and son, ,the death of all my relatives, and death of the little new baby across the street from me, the death of the senior citizens who live across the street from me...its sick...

There are always such people around...they are sad excuses for human beings...No one, who finds themselves in the path of a natural occurance which could harm or kill them, and destroy everything they have, deserves what happens to them...we need to pray for all those who find themselves in harms way, no matter what state or city they live...

Sorry for this rant, but am sick and tired of absolute jerks, making such stupid comments...

[Delta Dawn]

We are getting super-cooled air here in Pennsylvania. I think the local weather man said that this is the start of a new ice age, or something to that effect. I might have to bring the pets in tonight.

[steveegg]

Should've known you'd beat me by a few seconds :-)

[Lazamataz]

It was absolutely a Cat-5 storm: Katrina: Cat 5, 35-Foot Waves

[NautiNurse]

OMG!

[SE Mom]

This 890 came in AFTER the report you just posted...Dr. Lyons just came on AGAIN and said 890..

Uneffingreal.

[Strategerist]

The other interesting thing is that tropical cyclones over water, on balance, are weakest about this time of day, and reach maximum intensity at about 3-4AM in the morning.

[Interesting Times]

It is mind boggling to me that two Cat-5 storms -- of which we have only seen three IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MODERN METEOROLOGY -- have occured in such a way as to strike the US in under thirty days.

There have been 22 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic since records began in 1886.