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

[steveegg]

Thanks again for running these threads.

[RDTF]

Ditto from me - many thanks

[don-o]

I lived in Houston during the '90s. Unlike New Orleans, it's a city worth keeping. Good luck, folks.

As long as you are playing God, could you FM the Powerball numbers?

[blam]

""Blam, do you know if I-10 is passable down to Gulf Shores? My parents have a condo on Ft. Morgan Road and I'm thinking maybe we could head that way, but I don't know if we could make it from Houston."

I hear one westbound lane around Gautier and Pascagoula is out...If you come that way, go on I-12 at Baton Rouge and reconnect with I-10 at Slidell.

[agrace]

Nothing fills the void of a passing hurricane better than government.

That would make a great tagline.

[Judith Anne]

Thank you for all your work on this project. God bless, FRiend.

[Alia]

I'm at the part of book Isaac's Storm wherein "storm surge" gets explained. Saw data in previous thread: 60 foot waves!!!! ??? (silence from my 'puter)

[truthandlife]

Anyone have any hints on Hurricane preparation that the regular preparation guides will not say.

One thing I heard was to put your ice cream in a trash bag or just throw it away because it is very ugly in the freezer when it melts.

[Crawdad]

Try to think back to November, 1992, when it became clear that Clinton was going to win. It's kinda like that.

[againstallhope]

I looked at the map of all the rigs in that area. Thanks for the link. I wonder what the impact will be to natural gas and oil if the hurricane tracks as predicted. Has anybody heard any predictions?

[Alia]

Rita Sign in. Sign Me In, pls.

[silentknight]

Sunset Image

http://www.usawx.com/sunsetrita720pmy.jpg

[RDTF]

History or Discovery did a great show based on that book. True story - This guy Isaac saw the warning signs but decided not to tell the town, I think.

[Alia]

What a photo! What a Monster! It's Godzilla!

[Flux Capacitor]

----As long as you are playing God, could you FM the Powerball numbers?----

12, 34, 22, 55, 16. And you're welcome. :)

-Dan

[Lunkhead_01]

I have a hard time listening to Rita. Her voice is painful to listen to, and her smirky smile gives one pause.

And Rita may be one of the 72 virgin Virginians promised to the Mohammedan pigthugs.

[Howlin]

Sorry. Multitasking. The other peole who live here actually are trying to get me to "do stuff."

An aside, MSNBC had two minutes of Rita, then back to Katrina!

[steveegg]

It was the History Channel that did that special ("Issac's Storm").

[Unknown Freeper]

Thank you for your work.