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

[demkicker]

The poll needs bumping! Currently,

Misguided environmentalists for blocking new oil production and refinery construction is in 3rd place.

[blam]

"If on the other hand Katrina had fallen apart, people would have been making fun of Nagin and others for panicking."

Bob Riley (Governor of Alabama) ordered a mandatory evacuation of Mobile and Baldwin counties for hurricane Dennis...it turned east and we had minimum effects. He's still taking heat for that move.

[ncountylee]

Just checked DU, they have lost their brain cell.

"the * admin is all about culling the 'useless' population so that there is no longer a tax burden."

And rita has not even hit.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

A lot better than over Houston, if you want to talk about absolute damage...more wetlands involved to handle storm surge, not nearly as many people, but it will still hurt when it comes in.

[oceanview]

what trains are running in NO now?

[neodad]

I'm sure the media's rushing to give Bush credit for strong arming Naggin to rescind his repopulation order. NOT!

[Knitting A Conundrum]

At 1 PM CDT...1800z...the center of Hurricane Rita was located near
latitude 27.8 north...longitude 92.2 west or about 190 miles
southeast of Galveston Texas and about 175 miles southeast of
Port Arthur Texas.


Rita is moving toward the northwest near 10 mph and this motion is
expected to continue during the next 24 hours. On this track...the
core of Rita will make landfall near the southwest Louisiana and
Upper Texas coasts early Saturday.


Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 125 mph with higher
gusts. Rita is now a category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
scale. A further slow weakening is possible before landfall...but
Rita is still expected to come ashore as a dangerous hurricane.


Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 85 miles from the
center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up
to 205 miles. An elevated platform on Isle denieres near the
south-central Louisiana coast just reported sustained winds of 58
mph.


Latest minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force
reconnaissance plane was 931 mb...27.49 inches.

[steveegg]

Wherever it would do the least damage is close enough for me (I'd prefer nowhere, but that's not going to happen).

[Zechariah_8_13]

That poll is just UNbelievable!

What morons! Where's the "Free market" choice?

If SUVs and George Bush are to blame, then why is Europe paying so much more than us?

[onyx]

Thanks dear FRiend. What's your weather like right now?

We're overcast and BREEZY.

[numberonepal]

LOL! do you mean Lady Bugs?

Nope. Love Bugs. They are black bugs with big orange eyes that attach themselves to a "mate". Therein, love bugs. They will cover your window and grill in a heartbeat.

[BurbankKarl]

I heard one refinery hasnt shut down in 38 years!

[Lanza]

Thanks Diddle.

[ekwd]

Don't bother complaining to NBC or your local NBC station. Write down the names of some of the local advertisers on the local NBC station and complain to them saying that you will not see their advertising on NBC because you no longer watch NBC.

[MineralMan]

"While your at it---can you take a minute and pay mine too..>? LOL"

I'll be glad to do it. Just give me your account number, logon name and password. Do, please, ignore any payments you don't recognize.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Don't underestimate a cat 3 storm though...

Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 ft above mean sea level may be flooded inland 8 miles (13 km) or more. Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required. Hurricanes Jeanne and Ivan of 2004 were Category Three hurricanes when they made landfall in Florida and in Alabama, respectively.


And this will have a bigger than normal storm surge cause it was a Cat 5 storm earlier.

But every little bit helps!

[processing please hold]

We're preparing for it all.
Boarded up windows. Stocked food and water. Plenty of ammo.We put an ax in the attic, just encase. My photos are the only thing I've packed, they're the only thing. Everything else can just float away.

[Sender]

Is Shepard Smith in town?

Shep has been installed in Port Arthur TX, right where the eye will make landfall. Should be interesting right up until their satellite antenna blows away and the cell towers go under. Then we can watch old file footage while they search for Shep.

[steveegg]

See #379. While the winds are a LOT better, the surge is still going to be on the capital-U side of ugly.

[No Blue States]

Thanks, for some reason the eye isnt very clear on the visible or IR images. It was all morning.. At least she is weakening somewhat.