Hurricane Rita Live Thread

NHC - NOAA ^ | 20 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita is in the Florida Straits, impacting the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula. Hurricane watches and warnings are in effect for numerous portions of South Florida. Check local weather statements for updates.

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 SE Florida
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Florida

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Florida Radar/Sat Loop Caution: Broadband users only
Extra Large Miami Radar Broadband only
Extra Large Key West Radar Broadband only
Miami Long Range Radar Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Loop
Miami Experimental Radar Still Image
Key West Experimental Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

WTVJ-TV/DT Miami (NBC6)
WFOR-TV/DT Miami (CBS 4)
WSVN-TV/DT Miami (Fox)

Other Resources:

Florida East Coast Surf Reports Lots of great info here, including surf cams
Central Florida Hurricane Center
Hurricane City

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:
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[LikeLight]

That's your 75 knots.

[rodguy911]

Yeah, everything in our hood is on stilts. My elevation is about 3 or 4 feet so we have to build up here.A direct hit would have been a whole other ball game here, but reporting is so good besides this site/thread provides wonderful info 24/7..

[No Blue States]

14 week gulf water temp graphic to Sept 14th:

http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/hurricane/12wksst.html

It looks like Aug was the hottest month.

[kassie]

S. said she heard last night if it's a #3, Houston could lose power for 2 weeks.

Hope they don't include Fort Bend in that prediction.

[apackof2]

I am in MI and we need rain also
Hardly any in Sept. yet which as you said is unusual

[sheikdetailfeather]

That's a great idea. Some people in Fla. kept food longer with frozen jugs of ice like that and used it for drinking too.

[Salvation]

I laughed and laughed when I heard Jeb Bush this morning -- everything in place, food, ice, water, officers, back up crews, FEMA, re-entry plan.

Way to go, Jeb!

Naggin'Nagin needs to take lessons instead of blaming! The joke is on Naggin' Nagin.

[rodguy911]

Islamorada, Plantation Key, Oceanside MM 86.

[kassie]

I think Isabel was a #2 when it finally reached Virginia Beach. Although the damage was less than a #3 or higher, it still looked like a war zone.

[eyedigress]

latest:

[Coldwater Creek]

What we will be hearing is that George Bush is spending too much time in New Orleans and Mississippi. There is no pleasing.

[IN Farm Girl]

NautiNurse--Thanks so much for all the hard work and dedication that you display in maintaining these live hurricane threads. I am from the Midwest, where we don't have to worry about hurricanes (unless the rain comes up north from the ones that hit the Gulf Coast) and I can't even fathom what it must feel like to experience one first hand.

Thanks, also, to all of you who post "live reports". Everything from the price of gas at Tiny's in Islamorada to the lack of supplies at the Katy Super Walmart to the personal real-time accounts--they all make it seem super-real.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

We had a bad tornado once when our daughter was 5 weeks old. I had been up to feed her, fallen back asleep - woke up to the phone ringing and rain pounding the house.

My Mother was hysterical - news was reporting a huge tornado in our very small town - with the possibility of hundreds dead.

It was the South side of town, and yes, it was a horrible storm that did kill several people, and crippled others. But we were asleep and had no knowledge of it until she called us.

[SE Mom]

Good- stay safe.

Here in Central FL we're having a squall come through..very breezy with rain "bursts"..

[NautiNurse]

Read Post #1...

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

It is going to hit far south Texas - I'm doing my voodoo dance

[laz]

Yeah, the guy who sold us the house moved to Coral Reef. He had to fix it up and reinforce it after Andrew in '92. We've been living here for only a year. Lived in Burbank, CA for 17 years before that. We went through the Northridge Quake in '94, and that was less nerve-wracking than these hurricanes.

[CharlieOK1]

just curious, but I don't know much about Hurricanes. If Rita follows the track in Shields post, it is aiming for Oklahoma. When do those things die down? Like, would we see big storms in OK as a result of it coming our way?

[eyedigress]

Oops! My Bad...

[Dog Gone]

Make your voodoo dance change the Florida State model run. The latest forecast has Rita taking out 3/4 of the Texas coast.

http://moe.met.fsu.edu/cgi-bin/mm5fsutc2.cgi?time=2005092000&field=Sea+Level+Pressure&hour=Animation