Movement toward...west near 14 mph. Maximum sustained winds...135 mph. Minimum central pressure... 948 mb.
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Posted on 09/21/2005 1:36:24 AM PDT by 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
One tip I do want to share with all who have pets and are in the area where Rita (or even the tornadoes she might spin off) will hit....take a permanent black marker and write your name & telephone number and your vet's phone number on your pets belly. Collars with tags can get lost and not all places have scanning machines to scan for microchips, so the information written on your pets tummy might be it's only means of finding it's way back to you if the worst happens and you are separated in the storm. The writing won't wash or rub off for a couple of weeks, so it's a permanent enough way to identify the animal through this situation.
Thanks for the ping, NN. Was in San Francisco past weekend. All were intensely fearful of hurricanes -- the way rest of nation is about west coast earthquakes.
NO Postings yet of any RITA effects...
Rita windfield isn't as wide yet. When it starts undergoing several EWRC then we may have another Katrina on our hands. IANAM (I am not a meteoroligist).
Who is flying the 4000 evacs?
Good Morning dear NN- I see you've been busy all night. Thank you once again for all you do- these threads are a lifeline for so many:)
Hard to believe we're doing this all over again a short month later, eh?
I'm going to my Sugar Land house and I have a cable modem there too.
Provided the power stays on, I'll be FReepin'
;)
Great suggestion. Thanks
sw
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
605 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2005
40-60 mph winds as far north as Waco..3-5" of rain...a few tornadoes..
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/tx/special.html
Sorry about the caps here:
...EFFECTS FROM MAJOR HURRICANE RITA EXPECTED ACROSS NORTH TEXAS...
HURRICANE RITA IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LAND-FALL ALONG THE MIDDLE TEXAS GULF COAST PRIOR TO SUNRISE ON SATURDAY. THE STORM...ALREADY A MAJOR HURRICANE...IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY TO A CATEGORY 5 STORM OVER THE GULF WATERS...WITH SOME DECREASE TO A CATEGORY 4 STORM JUST PRIOR TO LANDFALL EARLY SATURDAY.
THE LATEST TRACK FROM THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER WOULD BRING THE DISSIPATING STORM NORTH TO NEAR WACO SATURDAY NIGHT AND INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA...EAST OF OKLAHOMA CITY...SUNDAY NIGHT.
I'm afraid you may be right. Not a great time for the hurricane hunters to have computer failure.
Thanks. Was curious to know whether commercial or military. Delta may be earning their get-out-of-bankruptcy card.
I wasn't going to say this, but what the heck. It had always been a family "joke" that Houston never gets hurricanes when *I* live here.
All of my family lived here for Alicia and some other smaller TS's, but I was *away* in my other home, Oklahoma. Now, the family is all *gone* and here I am, with the lucky streak having run out, it appears.
My parents stayed home for Alicia and just lost a few shingles and 2 very large pine trees, which fell on the detached garage and thankfully, not the house. That was in the Memorial area of SW Houston and supposedly got 100 mph winds.
I had forgotten until *today* that they also told me they were without electricity for 5 days afterwards. This is the part that is freaking me out--extended power outage.
We evac'ed my mom out of an assisted living home near South Shore Harbor in about '90, I think, because it was mandatory that relatives come get the residents (as opposed, to say, St Bernard Parish, LA) -- but that storm never came this way. LOL, we only took her to the Holiday Inn at Hobby. But, see, I *lived* here then, so we dodged the bullet.
A friend who is evacuating said the Katrina folks were being flown out. Since the Astrodome was stocked for Galveston people, I wondered. Of course, everyone is going further.
CNN says now Cat 4.
Movement toward...west near 14 mph. Maximum sustained winds...135 mph. Minimum central pressure... 948 mb.
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