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Posted on 09/22/2005 3:25:57 AM PDT by NautiNurse
Extremely dangerous Category 5 Hurricane Rita continues to threaten the Greater Houston Metropolitan area. The forecast track has shifted slightly to the northeast, increasing the risk to Southwest Louisiana, and a significant portion of the oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Texas Governor Perry is urging all coastal residents between Beaumont and Corpus Christi to evacuate as soon as possible.
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
Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Lake Charles Wx Watches/Warnings
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana
Hi Res Houston Flood Zone Map Slow load, great detail
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)
KPRC-TV/DT Houston - KPRC-TV/DT Houston - http://mfile.akamai.com/12944/live/reflector:38616.asx
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
Beaumont TX evac Routes
Lake Charles/Southwest LA Evacuation Map
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles Evac Routes, news
KFDM Beaumont/Port Arthur News, evac info
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 III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18
13-5
We're all like cats on a hot skillet. No big deal.
Per TXCN/Perry news conf: Contraflow is in use on 45 now (live footage). Those who are out of gas should pull over and wait. TxDOT crews will come along and refuel your vehicle.
ok, so that was the committee vote. Thanks.
13-5.
Shep is in Galveston.
Biden, Kennedy, Boxer, Schummer, Durbin
Rita weakens slightly to Category 4
September 22, 2005 - 02:43 PM
This has been an absolutely incredible hurricane season, and we are still near the peak. Hurricane Rita's explosive growth has finally stopped and she has weakened slightly. Fortunately, Rita should slowly continue to weaken until landfall. Category 5 hurricanes are very hard to maintain. At this point it looks like Rita is completing and eyewall replacement cycle and could strengthen very soon.
Aircraft recon earlier reported a central pressure of 897 mb. This makes Hurricane Rita the third most intense hurricane ever record in the Atlantic. This places Rita behind Gilbert in 1988 with 888mb, and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane with 892 mb. Last month Hurricane Katrina recorded 902 mb. Right now the central pressure is up to 914 mb. Please remember that althought Rita is now a Category 4 storm, she can still pack storm surge of a Category 5.
http://www.thestormtrack.com/
Thanks for correcting me, I knew it was originally 17 ft.LOL
gotta tell me how they pull this one off.
Sean Hannity tickles his radio audience w/ lead in Katrina is bearing down on Galveston and Houston.
It's going to be awful if Laz is correct and it goes in over NOLA. We'll never hear the end of it.
That's good to know that you still have that option. Rita is probably a good 36 hours from landfall, and the high fives that the people living on the western side of Houston are giving each other (and I'm as guilty as anyone) could still turn out to be premature.
Rita is a very powerful storm. It's still predicted to hit as a Cat 4, and that prediction comes with no guarantee. It wouldn't take much of a course correction to put us in serious trouble again.
We're still going to be in trouble. Rita is a massive storm, and even if the eye passes east of Galveston, both of us will still experience hurricane force winds.
I can't find gasoline anywhere for my chainsaw, but I just made a deal with my neighbor. He'll donate a half gallon to the cause and we'll both clean up our part of the subdivision after the storm passes.
Y'know, if that track keeps shifting east anywhere close to the rate it has been, that's going to put the strong side of the storm back over the western New Orleans suburbs and Lake Pontchartrain. They wouldn't get hurricane-force winds, but they'd get gales, and a crapload of rain that they can't handle right now.
I've got friends in Baton Rouge, and let me tell you, they're terrified. And I don't blame them, the way that track keeps shifting.
}:-)4
Or as he referred to it, "The Impact Zone."
I guess he wants to be the first one to get the hysteria going, huh?
Chocolate sounds pretty good, too! I did a glazed creme bunt cake .... easier to eat with your hands in the dark! lol
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