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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
Preview is your friend.
First morning shots
http://www5.wright-weather.com/bb/showthread.php?s=&postid=455979#post455979
Just dang
Fox News Alert: 6-55 AM Rita now a cat 4.
Category 4.
There is a silver lining. There is a percent of folks in Galveston who have never left the island their whole life. Seriously. No lie. Never crossed the bridge. Never shopped Walmart in Texas City. Maybe Rita will at least get them across the bridge.
I took a short nap only to wake up and find out she increased another 15 mph. This intensification probably is a record. When did she become a Cat 1, around 9 AM yesterday? Even if it isn't a record, it's astonishing.
"...for TS Allison I didn't get any water in the house..."
Wow. For living in Houston environs with 36" of rain that was VERY good. My brother lives north of Houston near the airport near a bayou(Greene?) and he got 3' of water in his apt. with Allison. Needless to say he lost most everything including his car.
That said though, I'd still reconsider staying there through a cat 4 or 5 hurricane. Even if you are high and dry there is still the 140+ mi/hr wind to contend with. That's like one huge tornado sitting over your house for several hours. Not a pretty thought.
"...(ditch, lol--"crick?")..."
Lol, indeed! Boy, did those words bring back memories. We used to live down the street from a "ditch" with creaky old wooden bridges over it. It was a huge magnet for us kids who went there to find all sorts of creepy crawlies. Fun times.
I just got this. Have you left yet? We need a generator!
I'm here, just Nw of Austin, Local weather guys are callin for tropical force winds for Sat. This could be My last transmission. Pray for Texas
The state prison system uses UTMB for medical care of inmates. They were already moving them out a couple days ago. Hear that, Nagin?
Huntville and Bryan are opening their shelters for fleeing Galveston/Houston residents. They had many supplies left after the Katrina evacuees left, so they are well stocked. Yesterday phone company and Operation Blessing trucks (Pat Robertson's group) were already heading south on I-45 to the Gulf. Texas will be ready.
When I was at the Kroger last night I almost bought a halloween hockey mask for the looting, but I decided not to.
And I bet Texas knows where most of their sex offenders are too!
If we get the storm surge on the east side, many (Brays, Buffalo, Sims, White Oak, Greens, etc) will have nowhere to drain so flooding from rains will be worsened.
Oh no...
Thanks for the local update.
I got stuck on a freeway overpass for 4 hours.... The lady in the car next to me was about 8-9 months pregnant....I still feel sorry for her...we had to open our doors to shield her....urination. She was so embarrassed....but relieved.
Deja Vu all over again. Keep up the great work, NN.
Oh. My. God.
I think she said,"I wouldn't want to be that close to Aggies"
For out of staters ... Bryan/College Station is a shelter destination and home of the Texas A&M Aggies..
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