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

[RDTF]

I'll brave it all on Fox just to watch Bill (the Babe) Hemmer. Sorry. (blush blush)

[Republic]

Been there! ROFLMAO! The 'puter' is best! Ya not only get the latest from folks in the area, but you get to laugh, frequently!

[steveegg]

I hope the sailor took plenty of Dramamine :-)

[Txsleuth]

aw, jeez, you would think a trucker would know not do that...I have seen truckers pull over up here in Arlington, when it is really windy...

I just was looking at the picture of the hurricane and the windy conditions...whoa....the DARK red part hasn't even made landfall yet...and it is bad..

[kenth]

I haven't had the tv on all night. But, I've got to see that.

[Torie]

Geraldo says at the last minute before the eye hits, he plans to drive up to Beaumont. That is the most insane idea I have ever heard of. He will be in that cement stairwell he was talking about. Or ...

[MamaTexan]

compared to the way the homes in that "poor" town are built on cinder blocks with no foundations.

GEEZ!

Whorealdo is SO ignorant, he doesn't know what pier & beam homes are!

ROFLMAO!

[mtbopfuyn]

I'm about 45 minutes west of her. It's dead calm here so no worries, now.

[cake_crumb]

"Someone really needs to pick up on this and get busy!"

I'm with you! Get the media involved AND send nasty, online, letters to the editor of local publications (that have the option) that publish Clymerish stories of the horrors of NO. I do it all the time when I'm riled. Makes me feel better <G>

[Blogger]

I remember Bill when he used to report the news in Cincinnati. He left the newsroom and took an around the world tour for local news. Always pushing for something bigger. Nice to see he has done so well.

[johnb838]

Channel 13 just reported that eastern Harris county to the TX/LA border will have hurricane force (75+) winds, and the rest of the city will have 50-75mph. Keep your fingers crossed.

[hispanarepublicana]

do y'all have evacuees. we have 800 or so. some are double evacuees (from the astrodome).

[MikefromOhio]

Who you callin a lady? Talk to that eyewall inversion convection girl, honey. That's lady talk. I kin out spit and out shoot the lot of yall. Mm, mm mm, like yall got a big L on yo forehaid. Don't get me started now

Care to translate that? :-)

[devane617]

Latest Bouy observations...

http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/radial_search.php?lat1=28.2N&lon1=92.6W&dist=250&time=3

[raygun]

Ah, NO. I'm looking at the difference between temps inside the eye and outside the eye (robust storms are at least 10 Deg. C higer in that regard). I'm lookging at decreasing humidity w/in the eye (technical reasons). I'm looking at winds remaining constant despite the pressure increasing. E'Yep.

[spectre]

They won't show it...(more than once).

sw

[SouthTexas]

Someone get me a hi-res of each and I'll do it.

Here is the answer for the one that can do it! (I can't)

[uncbob]

I don't think we have seen Shep since Drama Queen #1 showed up. Wonder what he is up to. Hard to believe after his melt-down in NO that he would want to go through this again in Ground Zero.

His EGO couldn't take it if the others were there and he wasn't

[Torie]

If Geraldo is cruising to Beaumont, there won't be an TV of it.

[johnb838]

That was what we were told yesterday -- the inventor of the scale said after 155, it doesn't matter.