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

[gpapa]

Conditions at MRSL1 as of
(12:00 pm CDT)
1700 GMT on 09/23/200
Wind Direction (WDIR): ENE ( 70 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD): 42.0 kts
Wind Gust (GST): 51.1 kts
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 29.48 in
Pressure Tendency (PTDY): -0.07 in ( Falling )
Air Temperature (ATMP): 79.2 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP): 85.1 °F
Visibility (VIS): 2.5 mi
Tide (above MLLW) (TIDE): 3.73 ft

[Zechariah_8_13]

I heard that the washing machine was a good place to stash photos, important documents, etc, because it would usually withstand the storm.

[Palladin]

That's one bodacious booty!

Wish I were fifty years younger!

[Peach]

Louisiana Democrats submitted a budget yesterday which included having the feds pay for mosquito spraying. Is there ANYTHING that Louisiana is going to pay for?

The request was for $250 billion.

[oceanview]

OK, that makes sense.

[dfwgator]

The problem is that the storm surge lags behind the stength, it could still be a Cat 5 storm surge, even if the storm itself is only a Cat 3 when it hits land.

[Spktyr]

See my post to cgk. It's possible to fly, but it's not possible to hover, which is what is needed for sandbag operations.

[AliVeritas]

Hey, just came from Mass. Did she give where this AA story came from? If he did drink who could blame him... four years of hell...

I will get to the bottom of it though.

[txhurl]

If she stalls, then re-strengthens to a 4, is westwardly her most likely track?

[Wneighbor]

I would think NOW is the time to say forget it---either build NO ABOVE sea level....or no taxpayer should have to fund the repairs..

Can't echo that sentiment enough myself. I'm getting tired of those people who aren't *listening* to me!!!

[freema]

Give me the positives!

[jpsb]

My friends left 8am yesterday, just now getting there.

[oceanview]

you mean 250 million I assume. 250 billion for mosquito spraying sounds a little high, even by corrupt LA standards!

[gpapa]

Conditions at SPLL1 as of
(12:00 pm CDT)
1700 GMT on 09/23/2005
Wind Direction (WDIR): E ( 100 deg true )
Wind Speed (WSPD): 55.0 kts
Wind Gust (GST): 66.0 kts
Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): 29.40 in
Air Temperature (ATMP): 84.7 °F
Water Temperature (WTMP): 38.7 °F

[BureaucratusMaximus]

And yes, I'm VERY happily married...but that doesn't mean I don't have an appreciative eye for, uh, nice cloud formations. Yeah. That's it.

I resemble that remark.

[cgk]

Me neither. One report I read (I forget which Hurricane it was now), was talking about the clouds being 10 miles tall. Amazing.

[Eaker]

We had our first looter.

Problem has been contained.

[Cboldt]

Sand boils being reported in a number of areas in New Orleans - meaning that additional breaks are likely very soon.

Any specific locations being given?

[Flyer]

You of all people

Yeah, you have to sift out who to listen to, and nwctwx is one of those I listen to also.

[IamConservative]

The last loop made it look like another ERC happened.