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

[LikeLight]

Astrodome people were already gone, placed into more permanent arrangements, before Rita. Some were left in the nearby Reliant Center (a few thousand) and they have been moved to Arkansas.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The last vortex didn't come from a NOAA plane, but from an airforce plane also flying recon...but the conference call said 906, and I think we can be pretty sure it's sub 910...the next update is coming in about 15 mins....

[yield 2 the right]

wow, for those who might miss it please bookmark this link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1488480/posts?page=1854#1854

[hummingbird]

Very good suggestions, jacquej! With our dog, all you have to do is promise to rub his chest and belly - he'll follow you anywhere!

[Sprite518]

Where did you hear that?

[Guenevere]

Thanks....we're in the same state, you're just on the other side of the peninsula :)

[No Blue States]

Maybe you could show him this to convince him to leave:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
155 PM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS (39 TO 73 MPH) CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. HURRICANE FORCE (74 MPH AND GREATER) ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS CLOSEST TO THE COAST. SOME LOCALIZED WIND DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE.

http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/tx/special.html

[cake_crumb]

FOFLOL!

[JFC]

not nuts at all... we gotta fight for our children and grandchildren.

[HereInTheHeartland]

That's a great, great pair of pictures.
Is the picture on the left really buses loading up people to evacuate from Rita?
If so it should be a poster.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

If you would be staying close by, follow hubby's advice and see where it hits, and how bad it could be in Pflugerville. By all means, if they project 60-70 mph winds, you should not be in a mobile. It is good to have a plan. Just a little early to execute on it today. All IMHO.

[conservative in nyc]

The low-lying parts near Galveston Bay and the Ship Channel will be evacuated soon. They probably let the folks from Galveston and the coast get a head start on the evacuation in order not to block the roads.

Most of north and west Houston is far above sea level and far enough away from the coast that it probably doesn't need to be evacuated. There's also the problem of where to send 2 million+ people, if they were all evacuated.

[sinkspur]

They show that big pic of the pier in Galveston...witht the structure at the end. I assume that is going to disappear, right?

Yes.

2. Did I hear the mayor say she and a skeleton staff were staying...ion the top floor of some building that is 37 feet above sea level..but they are expecting a 30ft+ storm surge? Does that make any sense?

They may all end up as skeletons. Maybe the floor is built to withstand something like this, but I wouldn't want to chance it.

Galveston is not worth anybody's death.

[NautiNurse]

Did you see this awesome video of Rita's development? Slow load due to traffic, but well worth the wait.

[CedarDave]

Bastardi on Hannity now.

[rwfromkansas]

Bad news......models indicate Rita may stall over northern Texas and southern Oklahoma after landfall.

May be major flooding....12 inches of rain or so for places well after Rita hits the coast.

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?showtopic=53315

[dirtboy]

Here's the deal as I see it, and others please chime in.

You will probably be on the weaker side of the hurricane, and it will still be a hurricane that far inland. However, you are east of I-35 and closer to its probably track than most of greater Austin.

You can probably expect to face sustained Cat 1 hurricane winds. You might get some damage from falling trees and broken windows. You could get tornadic activity.

Here's the big issue - you could very well be looking at a week or longer without power in the late Texas summer (and it's still summer there, I used to live in Austin). How well do you think your infant can cope with no air conditioning and no fans.

If your infant has any medical problems, are you going to be able to get him/her to a doctor or hospital if power and phones are out and roads are impassible with downed trees?

Your husband and older kids will be able to weather that, but I would seriously consider getting your infant to a safer place. Where is the place you can evacuate to?

[JFC]

Love him.

[Sprite518]

LOL! I am way out of the Storms projected path. I am just tired of all the nonsense coming from the "its all Bush's fault" so called reporters.

[NeoCaveman]

How does Beven get the 5:00 A.M. Statement out before 5:00 A.M.?

Time travel.