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

[JustDoItAlways]

Latest satellite images show that Rita is strengthening again.

[raygun]

Actually,

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

is suggesting to me that the storm is becoming more robust. What this means no me, is that the storm isn't going to weaken rapidly. What you see is what you get (and for quite some time to come).

NOW I'm seeing evidence of entrainment. That's because the humidity dropped (dewpoint remained constant, but inner eye temps increased). In fact the inside eye/outside eye temp differential is approaching a healthy 10 deg. C. What I infer from this is that despite upper level winds not increasing, lower level eyewall convection is increasing. As a result, entrainment below the eye-inversion is causing forced dynamic subsidence.

Very technical jibber-jabber for one word: 30 mile wide tornado. The storm has just been injected with nitro into its air mix (even so the load is increasing, the power is going up). I see this due to the remark intimating the warmest temp is found further than 5 miles from the center (default for temps in Items I, J, K). It'll be interesting to see how long it can sustain that. My guess is when the water depth below the core decreases below 60m.

[mtbopfuyn]

In central TX, the cable went out about 45 minutes ago. Don't know if it's Rita related or not. We're not supposed to be getting much of her since the turn.

[conservative in nyc]

Some areas of Nederland are 16 feet above sea level, according to my National Geographic Back Roads Explorer Topo Maps. Especially areas close to the Neches River It's even 20 feet at some places near Spurlock Road.

Port Arthur is on lower ground in most places.

Stay safe, Greene66.

[Double Tap]

The wind is picking up here in Spring. Maybe gust of 50 mph now. I think we will miss the worst of it. Thankfully.

[Ellesu]

I love "stuck on stupid" and have started using it at work. :)


Let me know when the Rat bumper stickers with "stuck on stupid" are printed.

[CindyDawg]

Wouldn't it be better for Fema to wait until after the storm before coming in?

[Colorado Doug]

wind is coming right off the water so flying stuff in not a worry either.

I don't know, we would hate to see you struck by a 125 mph flying grouper. Be safe!

[Ellesu]

Thanks.

[LA Woman3]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1490045/posts?page=1881#1881


Bush sells Louisiana back to France...

[steveegg]

That's the problem with forecasting, getting the curves right.

And it doesn't help that the advisories/position updates have so much slop in them.

[floriduh voter]

And, hurricanes do not really have a brain but everyone including meteorologists talk about hurricanes as if they actually decide where they're going to go. Maybe that's because we name them.

[BurbankKarl]

http://www.weatherserver.net/hurricanecenter/

if you have DSL you can watch here...

[monkfan]

I'll let ya know when it's over. I've got 5 water oaks, 2 pines and 3 southern magnolias. My front yard hasn't seen the light of day since the Carter administration.

[RDTF]

Ah no. This was the big problem in NO. No water, or nothin when the evacuees arrived at the Superdome.

[jeffers]

Thanks for the link. I bookmarked it for future reference.

[Sender]

I had never heard of a Belgian Malinois, then I saw this one on a website and said 'Ooh, that's the dog I want'. And if I were living outside the 'burbs I'd have taken her home regardless of her former training. But this is not the place for such a dog; 2 of my neighbors consider anything larger than a poodle as vicious and dangerous. When my Husky mix jumped the fence and went over to lick one guy's hand, with tail wagging and tongue hanging, the guy called animal control and caused quite a fuss. *sigh*

Someday I'll probably live up in the mountains with plenty of space, then I may do what I've always wanted to...get a wolf hybrid. But not here in the 'burbs.

[mathluv]

That sounds great!

[ARealMothersSonForever]

True enough. They have been doin' one of thosed government subsidized looter herd programs. We have all seen these. There are those tall game fences, topped off with razor wire. The state even went as far as to build and staff guard towers in order to prevent "poaching", or culling the looter herd out of season. Huntsville is one of the more notorious of these facilities. The breeding program went horribly awry, and virtually all of the looters are dumber 'n dirt.

[johnb838]

FEMA has decided to stage out of the Astrodome since the eye has moved to the east. They were staging out of Austin before. This way they can get to Beaumont/Pt. Arthur much faster.