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

[mware]

Shep just asked the weather guy about were he is standing.

The guy said you are going to be under water.

[N8VTXNinWV]

thanks! My sister is going to email me some pictures of the clouds before sunset...

[Sender]

LOL, that's priceless!

[RoseofTexas]

Huh-oh...you say Port Arthur? Well, I'll be dang!

[Dog]

The guy said you are going to be under water.

Please be true.

[TheMom]

Don't think the psycho dog cares for anything.

[jbstrick]

"What did Shep do now?"

Nothing. I am watching the show now. He just asked a decent question.

"Will it cause any problems wen people return and there is no gas?" "Or are there plans to remedy that problem?"

[Bahbah]

greene, Max Mayfield is talking about a 20 foot storm surge hitting Port Arthur. How high up are you???? This is getting worrisome.

[nevergore]

Only if he takes Geraldo with him....

NeverGore :^)

[sheikdetailfeather]

I agree with you about our country needing to use coal. I see you are in La. You stay safe.

[proud American in Canada]

Local edits.

Yep.

btw, I lurked all day today and have really enjoyed your informative posts. :)

[mware]

I haven't seen a contour maps of Port Arthur but I think someone said that it is 5 ft above sea level.

That ain't going to cut it.

[Dog]

Where is Geraldo?

[steveegg]

Finally, a new vortex data message - eye fix at 6:03 pm CDT (compares to 3:31 pm for the last) - pressure down 1 mb to 930 mb, max flight-level winds down 3 knots to 921 in the NE quad -

655 
URNT12 KNHC 232322Z
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 23/2303Z
B. 28 DEG 28 MIN N
   92 DEG 54 MIN W
C. 700 MB 2492 MA
D. NA
E. NA
F. 151 DEG 121 KT
G. 061 DEG 17 NM
H. 930 MB
I. 12 C/ 3050 M
J. 20 C/ 3061 M
K. 15 C/ NA
L. OPEN E-SW
M. E 080-30-20
N. 12345/7
O. 1/1 NM
P. NOAA3 2318A RITA OB 31
   MAX FL WIND 121 KT NE QUAD 2258Z
   MAX FLT LVL TEMP 060/10 NM FROM CNTR

Other significant changes -

- Movement of 19 minutes north, 17 minutes west (321 degrees)
- Eye elliptical along ENE/WSW line, 30 nm wide along that line, 20 nm wide along NNW/SSE line (was circular and 20 nm wide)
- Eye open east to southwest (was open east-to-south-to-southwest)

[antivenom]

stopped what? LOL!!!!

[RikaStrom]

Don't think the psycho dog cares for anything.

LOL, there's a truth I can't argue with! Well, except me! LOL

[Txsleuth]

This guy called his show...(so of course this isn't substantiated)...and said that one of his relatives, an uncle I think...

works at a nursing home in Plano...and was supposed to meet a bus with patients being transferred from the south...

He said the bus had like 35 patients on it, but when the uncle went to help them out...about half of them were dead from mostly heart attacks...even though they didn't have a heart problem supposedly...

Weird, huh? Anyone else hear anything about this?

[steveegg]

Thanks (blush)

[alarm rider]

I am watching Shep now, he alleges he is in Port Arthur. A riveting commentary on trash cans blowing down the street, gas station sighns blown down. I get the distinct feeling ol' Shep is bummed because the storm is not planning a prime time walk-on. The news babe just warned everyone to put their potted plants inside. Someone go get Shep.

[Not A Snowbird]

"A handsome vapor plume?" Is this a volcano, or a fashion show?

I see she had a 3.0 earlier today. She must be jealous of all the attention being paid to Hurricanes. :-)