Update: Category 5 Hurricane Rita - Live Thread, Part II

NHC - NOAA ^ | 21 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Category 3 Hurricane Rita became the fifth major hurricane of the 2005 season during the night. Hurricane Rita threaded the needle through the Florida Straits and moved into the Gulf of Mexico. Storm damage in the Florida Keys and South Florida Peninsula was light, with scattered power outages, scattered tornados, and mild to moderate flooding.

Mandatory evacuations are in effect for Galveston County TX and New Orleans. Additional evacuation orders in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area are anticipated throughout the day.

Crude oil prices reacted as oil producers shut down and evacuated workers from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

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 Eastern Gulf of Mexico
Buoy Data Western Gulf of Mexico
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas

Images:

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop
Key West Long Range Radar Still Image

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston: mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_khou
WWLTV NOLA

Additional Resources:

Coastal TX Evacuation Maps
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston

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 I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[RDTF]

or...Blank-O and Nothin' !

[Spktyr]

Most TX hotels are offering deep discounts for Gulf Coast evacuees, per the local news. Make sure you mention that, it can drop the price by as much as 75%!

[cowgirlcutie]

A flower shop, how nice! I don't really know what we're expecting here except alot of rain. I've been stuck in the office all day and when I have a spare minute, come over to lurk on FR, LOL. I have alot of family down in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Houston/Galveston area and they're all migrating to Huntsville, where most of the rest of the family lives. Except my nephew and his wife. They're both trauma RN's in Houston and are having to stay.

[Sally'sConcerns]

If in fact there are no room in Texas, here's a link to a town in Ok with accomodations you can check on:

http://www.duncanok.org/html/accomodations.html

It's large enough to have a Holiday Inn as well as a couple of other hotels along with a SuperWalmart and the regional hospital. It's off the beaten path but Halliburton and Schlumberger have a presence here. It's 25 miles due east of Lawton, Ok.

I offer the info as a just in case and because I live 10 miles north so I know the area. It takes about 8 hours to get to from Houston. When we lived in Houston we wouldn't take the I-35 route but would go through Decatur, then to Bowie, take a right at 81 in Bowie and then a straight shot.

http://www.cityofduncan.com/

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-478703-duncan_ok_vacations-i

[CedarDave]

Rockport being evacuated. See this link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1488480/posts?page=1075#1075

[Sprite518]

I guess what I get mad at is lets be honest. If we know this thing is probably going to be a cat 5, then lets talk about it. I remember 36 hours ago they were saying it will probably be a Cat 2 hurricane. I knew that was crap. Just look at all the warm bath water in the Gulf. The storm has picked up speed too. Which means when it hits it should just have peaked...

[sheikdetailfeather]

Last yr. in Fla. the Sheriff Dept. asked us to stay off our cellphones as much as possible after the storms because they used them for communication. It helped us to have both cellphones and land lines as one would work and then not the other intermittantly.

[A CA Guy]

My prayers for the good health and safety of anyone in the storm's path.
Anyone told to leave, please do so and stay safe.

[RDTF]

Bastardi said it yesterday

[kx9088]

LOL. My boss is the one that told me it's 1.12, earlier today when I first read the winds were up to 140knots. He is big into sailing and boating, and he's the engineering manager. This will probably tweak him when I email him the converter website =D

[cake_crumb]

"moon is waning, so i don't think that will be as much of an effect come Friday / Saturday."

Good point.

[james_f_hall]

Rick Perry telling coastal residents to Leave Now! It will take 33hrs to evacuate the coast.

Austin / Travis County will open shelters this afternoon.

[Termite_Commander]

000
URNT12 KNHC 211728
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 21/17:02:40Z
B. 24 deg 12 min N
085 deg 56 min W
C. NA mb NA m
D. NA kt
E. deg nm
F. 142 deg 142 kt
G. 036 deg 013 nm
H. 923 mb
I. 12 C/ 2447 m
J. 26 C/ 2436 m
K. 10 C/ NA
L. CLOSED
M. STADIUM
N. 12345/NA
O. 0.02 / nm
P. AF306 WXWXA 05092114306 OB 02
MAX FL WIND 142 KT NE QUAD 16:58:40 Z

[ladyjane]

Tell your friend to write her name and social security number in large numbers someplace on her body using a magic marker. If she has room she could put the phone number of her nearest relative. Tell her also to fax a copy of her will to that relative now.

[james_f_hall]

Can we call it a CAT5 yet?

[janetjanet998]

922 mb now!!!!!!! incredible fast pressure drop

000 UZNT13 KNHC 211716 XXAA 7117/ 99242 70859 08145 99922 26614 21022 00/// ///// 92/// ///// 85721 25044 88999 77999 31313 09608 81702 61616 AF306 WXWXA 05092114306 OB 03 62626 EYE SPL 2420N08592W 1705 MBL WND 21520 AEV 20507 DLM WND 21 518 922787 WL150 21022 080 = XXBB 71178 99242 70859 08145 00922 26614 11892 24609 22873 26043 33850 25044 44752 24462 21212 00922 21022 11875 21516 22806 21517 33791 20512 44752 21513 31313 09608 81702 61616 AF306 WXWXA 05092114306 OB 03 62626 EYE SPL 2420N08592W 1705 MBL WND 21520 AEV 20507 DLM WND 21 518 922787 WL150 21022 080 =

[WoodstockCat]

hey Tall_Texan,

any word from 590 AM on expected wind speed in Austin?
My wife was supposed to fly into Austin tomorrow and then back to Atlanta on Sunday AM, I see alot of models with the storm still in Texas on Sunday, have you heard anything about airport closures or delay forecasts?

[flowergirl]

Maybe this is a bad idea..but you an try the Texas State
Parks many have cabins...Northern LA has very nice state parks w/ cabins .. up and down I 20 .Lake Claiborne Sate Park is especially nice..it's north of Arcadia

[RDTF]

holy cow

[Sprite518]

I just want people say get the heck out of Dodge... Don't underestimate because that is when it will bite you every time. I rather over estimate then under...