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

[LA Woman3]

(No dammit... I'm not religious!)




Your tag line explains your mentality....

[gpapa]

You are right about that. 42001 last report 4:50 cdt.

[Calpernia]

continuing to strengthen?????

What??? What is the strongest hurricane on record?

[GummyIII]

I propose Oracle for O, PEBKAC for P (or PL/SQL) and SQL for S....:0)

[NautiNurse]

I bought 4cases of beer, 4 boxes of ammo and a box of Little Debbies.

Why did you short yourself on the Little Debbies?

[Godebert]

"I bought 4cases of beer, 4 boxes of ammo and a box of Little Debbies."

Little Debbies rule.

[No Blue States]

They moved the track to practically Galveston.

[LikeLight]

11:00 NHC track a bit farther north, closer to Houston/Galveston.

[Katlyn]

No, you misunderstood or I just write poorly. It was showing hitting a tad further down most of the day, and the path on this one looks higher and even closer to Houston. Well aware it is coming, finishing boarding, going to Huntsville to stay with our two college sons and ruin their weekend. LOL!

Thanks for the concern.

[mhking]

What??? What is the strongest hurricane on record?

Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 at 888 mb.

[Dog]

Gilbert 888mb.

[RDTF]

Ah but which ones?

[Types_with_Fist]

So, slightly more to the east again? Anybody have a current cone?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

wdsu giving 898 = 185 wind

UNREAL!

[Nita Nupress]

We can't leave. My elderly parents are staying and my brother will be working, so someone has to be here to drag them out of the bayou. :-/

[Dog]

You beat me but 5 seconds.

[steveegg]

I have been hearing an TWC that they are not able to keep up that cat 5 rating for long periods of time. I think they kind of out run themselves and reduce in strength.

Generally, that's true. For example, Katrina weakened slightly after hitting Cat 5. The question is will Rita weaken from Cat 5 so early that it can conceivably get back there before landfall.

[alancarp]

And you'd probably also want Access, DBase, RBase, TSql, MySQL, 'Mirror', and 'Cluster'. Database weenies. *sigh*

;)

[meyer]

While checking on Rita, I found this. What the heck is going on near the Great Lakes?

That's unusual in shape. Actually, there is some severe weather moving across Wisconsin according to other radar sites. Probably a cold front.

[epaul]

Don't feel that way, Texans are at there best in times of strife. You all just south of me will overcome this storm and rebuild better,,,,,, screw Fema, they will help but TEXAS by its self will rebuild.. And I'll bet you that no one will be asking for hand outs, or where's my debit card.