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

[queenkathy]

Do you guys flood? What kind of temps does Michigan run in the fall?

We don't get floods. The temps right now are in the 70's. The mid 70's today. The lows are in the 50's. Very nice weather. Till the blizzards in Jan/Feb

[conservativewasp]

One of the earlier large breaks that flooded NO was filled and backfilled with graded fill and stone. It was filled in depth, making the levee much thicker than it was originally. If this is overflowing, it should resist erosion pretty well. Anyone know if it's one of the earlier breaks?

[Aggie Mama]

Frank Billingsly (Channel 2 news) just showed a chart that makes it seem like just the extreme easter portions of Harris Co. will be getting hurricane force winds. Dr. Neil Frank still seems less sure of that north trend.

[freema]

She's just winking at W.

Like I said, this is a test of the emergency system, to see if Bush's home state could do better than Blanco's.

[cgk]

LOL. My head is spinning.

[txhurl]

The eye looks blown apart! in intellicast's IR loop!

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Hey Dolli. Yep in Florida. Sun is out pretty good right now, most in several days. For awhile we had steady rains but we'd get those heavy downpours and pick up inches in a very short period. But I have no standing water on my property, not like last year. I am really burned out on hurricanes.

[Lemondropkid31]

Yea, I saw that. I guess I dnt have to go into work so early

[OleMissRebelYell]

What I wouldn't give to be that T-shirt.

[Lemondropkid31]

LOL!!!

[Diddle E. Squat]

Dr. Frank has a history of being a drama queen in storms. I trust the NHC more then him.

I could not disagree more strongly. He used to run the NHC, and is as good as it gets.

[eastforker]

Local forcasters predicting storm will stall and slide back down over Houston, keep an eye open folks.

[steveegg]

Significant changes since the last one (this eye fix is at noon CDT, previous was at 9:10 am):

- Changeover from AF307 to NOAA2
- Movement 24 minutes north 20 minutes west (west-northwest by my math)
- Pressure up 2 mb to 931 mb
- Max flight-level wind up 1 knot to 124 knots
- Eye now 30 nm wide (was 28) and open on the southeast (was closed)

[green pastures]

Well I'm sure he'll be soundly critiqued for that. "Where was he for Katrina... He didn't stop by until on his way home from vacation... But TX he goes to before Rita even hits... blah, blah, blah..."

[james_f_hall]

Allison II?

[prairiebreeze]

Thank you for the thread and for your efforts in posting it.

[sheikdetailfeather]

What a nonpatriotic thing for the National Enquirer to do printing garbage to imply we have a weak leader at the helm while whe are at war. Oh..I forgot. The media do that every day!

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I will glady take 4" of water in my garage. Because that would mean I would own a garage which at this time, I don't have one!

If anyone is looking to have built a hurricane-proof home, check out ICF construction

http://www.titanwalls.com

[Cboldt]

One of the earlier large breaks that flooded NO was filled and backfilled with graded fill and stone. It was filled in depth, making the levee much thicker than it was originally. If this is overflowing, it should resist erosion pretty well. Anyone know if it's one of the earlier breaks?

The water now flowing into 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish is going through the same location on the east side of the Industrial Canal that caused the flooding during Katrina.

[Blennos]

Rita is going almost due north and is falling apart structurally - looks totally dsyfunctional - but will still wreak havoc on N.O. - I think Texas is totally spared, unless the later flooding gets 'em.

The latest satellite loop still shows a NW direction after a N wobble. The forecast track is therefore accurate.