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

[mathluv]

Fox just said Rita is a f with winds up to 135.

[Gondring]

Funny curvature to the GFDL track...does that mean that the dots are not the only points on the track and it has a finer time interval?

[Rte66]

Wow, thank you, thank you. Another "rock star"! (Or "rock star's" wife?)

[tx_eggman]

of course the big oil companies will raise the price of fuel again....

The commodities market take care of this all by themselves.

Would you prefer that "Big Oil" didn't shut down it's refineries in and around Houston and just leave staff on the rigs in the Gulf?

[NautiNurse]

Hurricane Rita Intermediate Advisory Number 15a
Statement as of 8:00 am EDT on September 21, 2005

 
...Satellite suggests that Rita has become a category four
hurricane...

 
a Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for the Florida Keys from
the Marquesas Keys westward to the Dry Tortugas.

 
Interests in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico should monitor the
progress of Rita.

 
For storm information specific to your area...including possible
inland watches and warnings...please monitor products issued
by your local weather office.

 
At 8 am EDT...1200z...the eye of Hurricane Rita was located near
latitude 24.4 north...longitude  85.3 west or about 195 miles...
west of Key West Florida and about 790 miles east-southeast of
Corpus Christi Texas.

Rita is moving toward the west near 14 mph and this general motion
is expected to continue for the next 24 hours.  This motion should
bring the center of Rita farther away from the Florida Keys over
the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today.

 
Satellite imagery suggests that Rita has continued to strenghten and
maximum sustained winds have increased to near 135 mph with higher
gusts.  Rita is now a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson
scale. A NOAA plane will check the intensity later this morning.  
Some additional strengthening is possible during the next 24 hours.

 
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to  45 miles from the
center...and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140
miles.

 
Estimated minimum central pressure is 948 mb...28.00 inches.

 
Coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 ft above normal tide levels
is possible in the Tropical Storm Warning area.  Storm surge
flooding elsewhere in the Florida Keys and South Florida should
subside today.

 
Rita is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 1
to 3 inches over portions of extreme southern Florida and the
Florida Keys. Rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches...with maximum
amounts of 10 inches over the higher elevations...are possible over
northwest Cuba.  Rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible
over the northern Yucatan Peninsula.

 
Repeating the 8 am EDT position...24.4 N... 85.3 W.  Movement
toward...west near 14 mph.  Maximum sustained winds...135 mph. 
Minimum central pressure... 948 mb.

 
The next advisory will be issued by the National Hurricane Center at
11 am EDT.

 
Forecaster Avila

[SE Mom]

I'm trying to find out if this is some kind of record- from a TS to a cat 4 in under 24 hours

[MEG33]

Cat 4 just announced...

The Astrodome may be used as a shelter after the storm..It isn't suitable for during..People are evacuating to Lufkin, Bryan and Huntsville from the mandatory areas..if they need a shelter..
..Looks like Galveston will get the dirty side of the storm if the new track holds..(It probably won't)..

[SlowBoat407]

West at 14? With that momentum, it's going to be harder for it to make a turn. Good news for NO, bad for TX.

[Dog]

Morning ma'am... can you give me an update..

[mathluv]

Oops! f = 4

[LikeLight]

Welcome aboard! Be safe.

[sfimom]

Excellent idea Mom.

[NautiNurse]

She's a Cat 4, recon aircraft are out of service d/t computer failure.

[Peach]

Category 4! Huge storm.

[glock rocks]

Hurricane Center May Run Out of Names

[Rte66]

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.

Our Dome is not appropriate as a shelter during a storm--too much glass. No one can shelter there for Rita. Unless, of course, they break in and set up camp.

[AntiGuv]

The wind shear is almost nonexistent, that's why it's intensifying so fast.

[No Blue States]

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
628 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

Offshore seas to 15" by Thursday night..etc.


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

[mathluv]

E.D. made a comment about College Station being a place to go. Being a Longhorn, she said something that I missed, then commented that our governor is an Aggie just before he came on to talk about evacuations.

My fingers goofed in my earlier post. I was trying to say it was a 4, not an f.

[Rte66]

Thank you! I'm trying.