Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Dangerous Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall in the northeast Gulf of Mexico within 24 hours. Tornados have spawned in Louisiana. Water is filling the Ninth Ward of New Orleans again. A bus carrying elderly evacuees was gutted by fire this morning outside Dallas, with multiple fatalities. Television crews have positioned their hurricane reporters throughout the region to attain maximum drama effects. Whoooooa.

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
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
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:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

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
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

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

[The Right Stuff]

Please keep me posted. We have family land in Nederland, all the folks are gone but I'd like to know how you fare. Take Care!

[Brad’s Gramma]

Durn. You're right.

[meema]

Thanks again, NautiNurse!

[John Jamieson]

Bigtime down.

[rintense]

Not where I live. Prices went up 9 cents overnight.

[Zacs Mom]

Oh man, then you missed a glorious sight on August 27th!!!

I sight I'll never forget and am thrill to have been a part of!

[numberonepal]

Station 42019
Freeport, TX
60 NM South of Freeport, TX
(2:50 pm CDT)

Wind Direction (WDIR):	NNW ( 340 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD):	29.1 kts
Wind Gust (GST):	40.8 kts
Wave Height (WVHT):	19.4 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD):	13 sec
Average Period (APD):	8.4 sec
Mean Wave Direction (MWDIR):	E ( 101 deg true )
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES):	29.48 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY):	-0.11 in ( Falling Rapidly )
Air Temperature (ATMP):	84.7 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP):	85.5 °F
Dew Point (DEWP):	73.6 °F
Heat Index (HEAT):	91.9 °F
Combined plot of Wind Speed, Gust, and Air Pressure

 

Continuous Winds

TIME(CDT)	WDIR	WSPD
2:50 pm	NNW ( 344 deg )	28.6 kts
2:40 pm	NNW ( 343 deg )	28.4 kts
2:30 pm	NNW ( 344 deg )	28.9 kts
2:20 pm	NNW ( 344 deg )	28.2 kts
2:10 pm	NNW ( 345 deg )	28.0 kts
2:00 pm	NNW ( 347 deg )	28.0 kts

 

Station 42035
GALVESTON
22NM East of Galveston, TX
(2:50 pm CDT)

Wind Direction (WDIR):	N ( 10 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD):	33.0 kts
Wind Gust (GST):	42.7 kts
Wave Height (WVHT):	14.4 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD):	14 sec
Average Period (APD):	6.7 sec
Mean Wave Direction (MWDIR):	E ( 94 deg true )
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES):	29.46 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY):	-0.14 in ( Falling Rapidly )
Air Temperature (ATMP):	82.6 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP):	85.3 °F
Dew Point (DEWP):	74.1 °F
Heat Index (HEAT):	89.1 °F
Combined plot of Wind Speed, Gust, and Air Pressure

[No Blue States]

20+ cent rise in gas here in 48s hrs.

[Spktyr]

ARRRRRRGH! Someone let Sheila Jackson Lee get to the mike in this new presser.

"Category Five Flooding" my arse.

[freema]

FYI The mosquito spraying is done on a large scale, by military operation to ward off disease. FEMA took care of that for us after Floyd...with all the standing water, it was an imperative health concern.

[dfwgator]

Can we give Louisiana to Canada in exchange for Alberta and a province to be named later?

[freema]

Good luck, all!

[Rte66]

(I don't know how to just post a "general" reply to "All" without latching on to the last number wherever I am - is there some way to do that, or am I OK?)

Finally finished my HurrRita "things to do" list, except 4 things I decided against doing.

Anyway, it now looks like I'll probably get 65 mph winds, 4" of rain - and just this minute, our local Ch. 2 TV met said he is now reasonably certain that Rita will not be looping back to sit on top of us and dump 2 feet of rain, here. She will probably do that in E TX in forward motion, he says.

Yikes, I'm in such a time warp from all this hurricane prep work and just 24/7 Rita coverage I've been totally concentrating upon, that I thought today was Saturday! I went to my college football forum to see what the score of our game is, lol! Not only do we NOT play on FRIDAYS, OU doesn't play this weekend at all.

*breathing a big sigh of relief* Now I think I can relax--till the power goes out and the potty stops working.

Best of luck to greene66 (no relation) and all those who are in more of harm's way than we are here!

[lainie]

Is this her honor Sheila Jackson Lee talking?

[Jrabbit]

Are you getting any wind over there? It's blowing pretty good here. For the past hour we've had some strong gusts.

[BurbankKarl]

why are people watching the cables now? they should be watching the local feeds on the internet...

[rintense]

It looks like it is going more north than west, and headed for the TX/LA border.

[tx_eggman]

However, it's been pointed out to me by neighbors that if'n I'd o' been here last month I mighta ended up in jail this time.

Kinda reminds me of an old Waylon Jennings line "if I'd have killed her when I first met her, I'd be out of jail by now"

[Eaker]

We are too far away to do anything now, but stay in touch if you need anything.

We will use all of our assets to help you if you need it.

[Spktyr]

Her felonious honor, yes.