Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VII

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita landfall is anticipated within the next few hours. Strong winds and heavy rains are battering southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.

MSM news crews are shouting over the howling winds as they foolishly describe blowing rain, swaying trees, and crashing waves through rain splattered camera lenses. It's a hurricane. We know these things already.

An 18 wheeler rig reportedly overturned on an I-10 bridge. The fate of the truck driver is unknown at this time. Reports of widespread power outages in Lake Charles. KPLC-TV Lake Charles local news has remarkably improvised their reporting from a remote location. They are taking calls from residents, NWS, and public utility representatives, and alerting residents to local conditions.

On the flip side, CNN announced to the world that law enforcement officers had evacuated from Port Arthur TX with the rest of the population. Engraved looter invitations would have been more elegant.

Godspeed to all those in the path of this storm.

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 VI
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

[Shortstop7]

What makes me grind my teeth is the inanity of these media types. Have they never been in commute traffic? They aren't able to grasp the sheer magnitude of the numbers of people flowing onto roads designated for moving cars and trucks in far fewer numbers. Daily commute traffic does not include moving hospital patients, prisoners, nursing home people and people who do not ordinarily use those very roads. Do you see these carping media types offering any brilliant affordable solutions? Nope, they just complain, moan and screech.

Me too....it's just crazy. I think the fact they have moved so many people out is just incredible. I get weary of the snide remarks about "problems with evacuation", etc. Utter hogwash... Courage.

[glock rocks]

It's Glock's fault anyway!

What? It's Gramma's fault.

[A Citizen Reporter]

In fact you're beginning to sound a little like Maureen Dowd.

[conservative in nyc]

Steveegg or someone who actually understands weather better than me can explain it better, but I think the wind will shift on the backside (to from the south), which will push water north.

[Brad’s Gramma]

I logged off. Sorry.

[Republic of Texas]

The local Lake Charles TV guys were talking about many people on Crewboats in the channel. I find that hard to believe. When I worked offshore in the Gulf, the SOP was to get as far away as possible from a hurricane, and if you had to ride one out, go to open shallow water.

[steveegg]

If you do get the eye itself, then the backside is worse because it goes from calm/almost calm to total bedlam. If you're just getting the eyewall, the right-side is worse because the motion of the hurricane gets added to the wind (and if you're on the coast, you get the worst of the surge).

[Arizona Carolyn]

Can't believe my ears. Tucker Carlson just said he's amazed -- they are sooooo organized in Texas; especially compared to what they saw in Louisiana.

[conservative in nyc]

1:10 AM - The 1 AM position estimate out of NHC put the center about 30 miles southeast of Sabine Pass. Also, we just measured a gust to 71 knots here at the office, which we still believe was on the low side of accurate.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/temp/ritablog.htm

[justa-hairyape]

With that landfall, you can kiss the Rockefeller State Wildlife Refuge goodbye !

[John Jamieson]

Backside is usually weaker because eye starts to breakup when front hits. This storm lost it's backside an hour ago.

[nwctwx]

265
URNT12 KNHC 240602
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 24/05:49:50Z
B. 29 deg 23 min N
093 deg 32 min W
C. 700 mb 2539 m
D. NA kt
E. deg nm
F. 309 deg 075 kt
G. 214 deg 024 nm
H. 935 mb
I. 17 C/ 3063 m
J. 20 C/ 3047 m
K. 13 C/ NA
L. OPEN SOUTH
M. C30
N. 12345/ 7
O. 0.02 / 2 nm
P. AF309 2518A RITA OB 13
MAX FL WIND 117 KT NE QUAD 02:50:20 Z

[BurbankKarl]

There were a couple hundred on those two DOD ships in Port of Beaumont.

[glock rocks]

Logged off? How'd you log on if you're still banned??

[bd476]

The eyewall just hit land in Cameron Louisiana. Winds are gusting up 96 KTS/hour near the buoy at Calcasieu Pass, LA.

Conditions at CAPL1 as of
(12:24 am CDT)
0524 GMT on 09/24/2005:

	Wind Direction (WDIR):	E ( 90 deg true )
	Air Temperature (ATMP):	79.5 °F
	Water Temperature (WTMP):	81.7 °F
	Water Level

Station CAPL1 - 8768094 - Calcasieu Pass, LA

Previous observations

MM	DD	TIME (CDT)		WDIR	WSPD kts	GST kts	WVHT ft	DPD sec	APD sec	MWD	PRES in	PTDY in	ATMP °F	WTMP °F	DEWP °F	SAL	VIS mi	TIDE ft
09	24	12:18 am		E	67.0	79.1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
09	24	12:12 am		E	58.1	96.9	-	-	-	-	-	-	79.2	81.7	-	-	-	-
09	24	12:06 am		E	62.0	86.1	-	-	-	-	-	-	79.2	81.7	-	-	-	-
09	24	12:00 am		E	56.9	80.0	-	-	-	-	-	-	79.2	81.7	-	-	-	-
09	23	11:42 pm		ENE	52.1	74.0	-	-	-	-	-	-	78.3	80.8	-	-	-	-
09	23	11:36 pm		E	51.1	69.9	-	-	-	-	-	-	78.3	80.8	-	-	-	-
09	23	11:30 pm		ENE	46.0	68.0	-	-	-	-	-	-	77.7	80.8	-	-	-	-
National Data Buoy Center

[Republic of Texas]

That's because we elect grownups in Texas. (For the most part, i.e. Dallas Mayor Laura Miller)

[Arizona Carolyn]

See post 1179, I was quoting the first sentence from it. Didn't get the italics in.

[LibertyRocks]

Thanks for explaining that Steve, I really appreciate it. Justa-hairyape see post #1507 (o:

[nerdgirl]

Tucker is no liberal. I actually like him most of the time.

[hole_n_one]

The way Shuster says Hardball (with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable) at the end of every report he spews on Matthews' yak show, I get the distinct impression he's flirting with Chrissy.