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

[AFPhys]

I was thinking that would be precisely one of the choices if it were a "good" poll... to see how many people would choose "Me" and blame ourselves instead of someone else.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Getting much rain from these storms?

You anywhere near Paris, TN?

[ken5050]

Network newsbabe Wet Tee-shirt contest?

[areafiftyone]

I hope it does so too. LOL It's gonna disappoint the media though. They were all camped out there waiting record it and say it's Bush's fault cause now they missed the Cindy Sheehan rally in Washington. LOL

[silentknight]

Sand boils being reported in a number of areas in New Orleans - meaning that additional breaks are likely very soon. [B]These boils are in areas that have never been flooded before.[/B] IF heavy rainfall continues through the night in New Orleans then that city will be facing another catastrophic event (which appears to already be well underway). The areas that were flooded the first time are flooding again and new areas are likely to be flooded as well.

This is likely going to be worse than Katrina for that city.

Questions remain as to how much rain will fall in the basin.

Big problems for New Orleans.

---

Storm surge likely to be catastrophic along the Southwest Louisiana Coast and portions of Northeast Texas. Red Cross being told to expect another long term operation across this region. Major concerns for the Beaumont area and to their east.

Make no doubt about it THIS IS A CATASTROPHIC event for many areas. The discussions about how much this thing is weakening are akin to those same comments when Katrina hit land. This is an extremely dangerous hurricane.

[SouthTexas]

"Love bugs" is a PC term.

[numberonepal]

Station 42019
Freeport, TX
60 NM South of Freeport, TX
(12:50 pm CDT)

Wind Direction (WDIR):	N ( 350 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD):	27.2 kts
Wind Gust (GST):	35.0 kts
Wave Height (WVHT):	17.4 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD):	14 sec
Average Period (APD):	8.1 sec
Mean Wave Direction (MWDIR):	ESE ( 102 deg true )
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES):	29.57 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY):	-0.03 in ( Falling )
Air Temperature (ATMP):	82.8 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP):	85.5 °F
Dew Point (DEWP):	74.1 °F
Heat Index (HEAT):	89.2 °F
Combined plot of Wind Speed, Gust, and Air Pressure

.

Continuous Winds

TIME(CDT)	WDIR	WSPD
12:50 pm	N ( 350 deg )	26.4 kts
12:40 pm	N ( 349 deg )	27.2 kts
12:30 pm	NNW ( 348 deg )	28.2 kts
12:20 pm	N ( 354 deg )	27.0 kts
12:10 pm	N ( 353 deg )	27.2 kts
12:00 pm	N ( 356 deg )	27.4 kts

 

Station 42035
GALVESTON
22NM East of Galveston, TX
(12:50 pm CDT)

Wind Direction (WDIR):	N ( 360 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD):	31.1 kts
Wind Gust (GST):	38.9 kts
Wave Height (WVHT):	14.1 ft
Dominant Wave Period (DPD):	14 sec
Average Period (APD):	7.4 sec
Mean Wave Direction (MWDIR):	E ( 95 deg true )
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES):	29.55 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY):	-0.07 in ( Falling )
Air Temperature (ATMP):	81.7 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP):	85.5 °F
Dew Point (DEWP):	74.7 °F
Heat Index (HEAT):	87.8 °F
Combined plot of Wind Speed, Gust, and Air Pressure

[ncountylee]

High beam alert!

[freema]

see #295

[RDTF]

I can just hear/see the BBC now: "Oil Rich Houston, Bush's Town, Runs out of gas."

[cgk]

I did hear them say earlier they couldn't send helicopters up because of 45mph gusts, but coast guard choppers are up shown on FNC now now making visual assessments of the industrial canal 'spillover';...

[OleMissRebelYell]

So can Stephanie Abrams :D

On a side note, and completely non-hurricane related, she's not related to the idiot lawyer on MSNBC, is she? I think his name is Dan Abrams.

[Palladin]

Good luck, Rosey. Sounds like you are prepared. Stay well, stay alert, and God be with you.

[blam]

"I used to also fill my washing machine before hurricanes, clean water was always precious after."

...and, I believed I'd thought of everything. Thanks.

[nwctwx]

Good points, current trends look like she might try to go back to cat 4 as well... for a time at least.

[WxMan2000]

Note that the flight level winds are higher than they were this morning, when the official intensity was 140 mph. Makes no sense that they've dropped the intensity 15 mph since then.

[shield]

Alcohol Anonymous, folks who attend those meetings are unidentified. With this absurd crap...I'll tell what I know. I've got friends that attend AA meetings in Austin. Guess who else attended in his days as Governor? I don't believe he's off the wagon....this is more crapola coming from the hard left.

[cgk]

new placemark.

[Palladin]

Well, a Cat 3 is not exactly chopped liver.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Why bother? They have recovered most bodies. The phrase "throwing good money after bad" comes to mind....