Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part VI

NHC - NOAA ^ | 23 September 2005 | NHC - NOAA

[NautiNurse]

Dangerous Hurricane Rita is expected to make landfall in the northeast Gulf of Mexico within 24 hours. Tornados have spawned in Louisiana. Water is filling the Ninth Ward of New Orleans again. A bus carrying elderly evacuees was gutted by fire this morning outside Dallas, with multiple fatalities. Television crews have positioned their hurricane reporters throughout the region to attain maximum drama effects. Whoooooa.

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 Western Gulf of Mexico
Houston/Galveston/Beaumont/Lake Charles Wx Watches/Warnings
Jefferson Co TX NWS Weather
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Texas
Current Weather Warnings and Watches for Louisiana
Hi Res Houston Flood Zone Map Slow load, great detail

Images:

Lake Charles Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Houston/Galveston Long Range Radar Still image, with loop link
Lake Charles Experimental Radar Outages and Delays May Occur

Storm Floater IR Loop
GOM WV Loop
GOM IR Still Image
Visible Storm Floater Still (only visible during daylight hours)
Color Enhanced Atlantic Loop

Streaming Video: (coverage may be intermittent)

KHOU-TV/DT Houston
KPRC-TV/DT Houston
KTRK-TV/DT Houston
KTRH-AM Houston
KPLC-TV/DT Lake Charles/Lafayette
KSLA-TV/DT Shreveport

Additional Resources:

FReeper Sign In Thread Check in to let us know whether you are staying, going, and when you get there
FReepers Offering Lodging To Rita Evacuees People and/or Pet Friendly FReepers Offering Shelter
KHOU Houston
KTRK ABC News Houston
KPLC Lake Charles Evac Routes, news
KFDM Beaumont/Port Arthur News, evac info
Hurricane City
Wxnation Houston
Galveston Webcams
Golden Triangle Weather Page Provides Galveston Weather, Warnings, Radar, etc.

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 V
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part IV
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part III
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Rita Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm Rita
Tropical Depression 18

[sheikdetailfeather]

Rita now Cat 3 per Fox. Fox news alerts are making me nervous.

[LikeLight]

Cat 3 - still packing a huge punch, but much better than a Cat 5.

[milagro]

Is that a good (relatively--of course) place for landfall?

[NautiNurse]

Maximum sustained winds 125 mph. Minimum central pressure 931 mb.

Every little bit helps.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Patient - like a zen spider...

[oceanview]

its weakening.

[cgk]

Amen.

placemark.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

While you are waiting for the current status,

please stop by and hit this poll on the lower right side.

Check out the answers!

[oceanview]

for Houston and Galveston it is very good news.

[rit]

12:45 P.M. - WWL-TV Reporter Bill Capo said a second breach of the levee near the Industrial Canal has occurred, though officials said they haven't been able to get to the site to examine it.

12:42 P.M. - WWL-TV pictures show water overwhelming the Lower Ninth ward with waters rushing into streets and homes. Officials said they believe no one remains in that area.

[RDTF]

at least the alert this time was a good one!

[esarlls3]

I was in Picayune, MS last weekend helping with the cleanup. Didn't see a single mosquito. Tons of "Love Bugs" though. Had to stop twice on the way back to clean the windshield.

[No Blue States]

Maybe I got too excited about what looks like sognificant weakening, nice trend though. :) If it holds.

[cgk]

Who should get the biggest blame for high gasoline prices?
Greedy oil companies	281	(39.97%)
George Bush	133	(18.92%)
Misguided environmentalists for blocking new oil production and refinery construction	142	(20.20%)
Wasteful and indifferent Americans who insist on driving gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups	95	(13.51%)
Congress	9	(1.28%)
OPEC	32	(4.55%)
Somebody else	11	(1.56%)
Total Replies : 703

[RedBloodedAmerican]

That is, if you like New Orleans. Kidding...just kidding...

[RDTF]

LOL! do you mean Lady Bugs?

[steveegg]

That eye size what the NOAA hunters found in their latest trip in (eye fix at noon; satellite pic was at 11:45 am). While the eye is becoming less apparent on the satellite, it's still around across on the Lake Charles radar

[uncitizen]

You said:I was almost expecting him to ask that idiot reporter if he was stuck on stupid. I really wish he had!

I said: It's President Bush's MO is to stay above the fray and let the journalists look like the fools that they are. It's General Honore's MO to throw out the S.O.S's to let the journalists look like the fools that they are.

I add:Which is not to say President Bush wasn't thinking it.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Please DON'T be lulled into thinking this is "only" a category 3 storm now! As with Katrina, the storm surge of this hurricane is already developed at a Category 4 level and will be huge. There is very little difference between sustained winds of 125 (Category 3) and 135 (Category 4) mph in terms of damage to trees and buildings. Anything over 100 mph is very, very bad.

[sheikdetailfeather]

Praying hard. Glad it is weakening!