Here Comes Rita!!

[Tigger_Magic]

Category 5 -- Prayers for everyone in Rita's path.

 

[lyeag]

Please be safe everyone.... I can't believe it is happening again so soon. I will be saying prayers for everyone in harm's way.

 

[chadfromdallas]

We're Texans, we can handle this

 

[chadfromdallas]

And When I say handle, I mean run like the wind north 165mph! Yesh

 

[wvrevy]

From a Tropical Storm to a Category 5 in a little over 24 hours...and it will strengthen before it starts to weaken right before landfall, due to the water temperatures in the gulf. (Warm, deep water is fuel for the storm...it will weaken when it reaches more shallow water.)

Anybody else ready for winter to get here already ?

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

And When I say handle, I mean run like the wind north 165mph! Yesh

Run, Chad, run!!!

That's good advice for all of you in Rita's path...I cannot believe this either! I cannot wait for winter, that's for sure!

 

[bsnyder]

Pressure now is 904. That's the 5th most intense Atlantic hurricane.

Hurricane watches are now up from Port Mansfield Texas to Cameron Lousiana. East of Cameron to Grande Isle a tropical storm watch is up. And south of Port Mansfield south through Texas into San Fernando Mexico.

 

[sodaseller]

Pressure now is 904. That's the 5th most intense Atlantic hurricane.

Hurricane watches are now up from Port Mansfield Texas to Cameron Lousiana. East of Cameron to Grande Isle a tropical storm watch is up. And south of Port Mansfield south through Texas into San Fernando Mexico.

That would be better than 5th, I think

NCDC

Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to impact the coast of the United States during the last 100 years. With sustained winds during landfall of 140 mph (a strong category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale) and minimum central pressure the third lowest on record at landfall (920 mb),

Other storms have had stronger sustained winds when they made landfall including the following:

The Labor Day Hurricane, Florida Keys, September 2, 1935, Category 5, 892 mb, Approaching 200 mph
Hurricane Camille, Mississippi, August 17, 1969, Category 5, 909 mb, Approaching 190 mph
Hurricane Andrew, Southeast Florida, August 24, 1992, Category 5, 922 mb, 165 mph
Hurricane Charley, Punta Gorda, Florida, August 13, 2004, Category 4, 941 mb, 150 mph

 

[bsnyder]

That would be better than 5th, I think

NCDC

That's not pressure at landfall, just overall lowest pressure recorded. Katrina actually hit 902 at one point, before weakening some prior to landfall.

I think Gilbert has the record - 888, or something close to that.

 

[ducklite]

This is going to be catastrophic. I'm naseaus thinking about it.

Anne

 

[sodaseller]

A pre-Katrina listing is here - don't know if these readings are at landfall or not. If not, Rita is #4 at 904

1 1122 GILBERT 1988-09-08 888
2 615 UNNAMED 1935-08-29 892
3 1045 ALLEN 1980-07-31 899
4 934 CAMILLE 1969-08-14 905
5 1234 MITCH 1998-10-22 905

Reading further at that site and others, those readings seem to be over water

 

[Luv2Roam]

Anyone staying in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is nuts. Even inland (Orlando area) I think I would get the heck out if one was heading our way.

We all wish everyone in Rita's path the best and will be praying for you to be safe and sound.

 

[bsnyder]

HURRICANE Rita TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
650 PM CDT WED SEP 21 2005

...RITA BECOMES THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE ON RECORD...

DROPSONDE DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE UNIT RECONNAISSANCE
AIRCRAFT AT 623 PM CDT...2323Z...INDICATED THE CENTRAL PRESSURE HAS
FALLEN TO BELOW 899 MB...OR 26.55 INCHES. THE DROPSONDE INSTRUMENT
MEASURED 32 KT/35 MPH WINDS AT THE SURFACE...WHICH MEANS IT LIKELY
DID NOT RECORD THE LOWEST PRESSURE IN THE EYE OF Rita. THE CENTRAL
PRESSURE IS PROBABLY AT LEAST AS LOW AS 898 MB...AND PERHAPS EVEN
LOWER. FOR OFFICIAL PURPOSES... A PRESSURE OF 898 MB IS ASSUMED...
WHICH NOW MAKES Rita THE THIRD MOST INTENSE HURRICANE IN TERMS OF
PRESSURE IN THE ATLANTIC BASIN. SOME ADDITIONAL DEEPENING AND
INTENSIFICATION IS POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS OR SO.

RITA CURRENTLY RANKS BEHIND HURRICANE GILBERT IN 1988 WITH 888 MB
AND THE 1935 LABOR DAY HURRICANE WITH 892 MB.

FORECASTER STEWART

 

[ducklite]

Anyone staying in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is nuts. Even inland (Orlando area) I think I would get the heck out if one was heading our way.

We all wish everyone in Rita's path the best and will be praying for you to be safe and sound.

I agree. If a CAT 4 was headed anywhere that it could plow straight over land and into the Orlando area (like the paths Charley took last year) I'd be very out of here.

Anne

 

[Luv2Roam]

Luckily TX appears to be taking this very serious;ly and preparing MUCH better.
We all feel so badly for TX. Esp after they have been so good to others.

 

[Planogirl]

Luckily TX appears to be taking this very serious;ly and preparing MUCH better.
We all feel so badly for TX. Esp after they have been so good to others.

It just occurred to me that we could be taking care of a lot of our own too if this keeps up. Yikes!

 

[DemonLlama]

Local news here shows bumper to bumper traffic on I-45 this afternoon, with drive times 12-14 hours to get from Galveston to Huntsville, a drive I covered home to college at SHSU and back every weekend in under two hours.

The mayor of Galveston and crew were carried live at 5:30 here and they already looked shell shocked. They had just come from a meeting with the National Hurricane Center people and basically said, if projections hold, Galveston will be catastrophically devastated. They are out of buses now, so if those who wanted out hopefully got in line this morning.

Things are emptying out quick up here, long lines for gas, no more bottled water, bread, etc.

This is still 48 hours before landfall, so anxiety is running pretty high. If you don't have your supplies by now, it's too late.

 

[Free4Life11]

My God I can't believe how quick everything goes!! The idea of going into a gas station and there being nothing is just weird to me.....good luck to everyone! I'm glad I live in Nebraska!

 

[Luv2Roam]

On CNN American Morning their weather specialist stated they hope Rita is a Cat 3, and anticipating a Cat 4 at this time.
Here's hoping for a 3 or less!

 

[ThAnswr]

Anyone staying in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is nuts. Even inland (Orlando area) I think I would get the heck out if one was heading our way.

We all wish everyone in Rita's path the best and will be praying for you to be safe and sound.

Sometimes, you don't have a choice. We had an hours notice with Charley, which went from a Cat 2 to Cat 4 in the blink of an eye.

When you get 1 hours notice that a Cat 4 hurricane is headed your way, hunker down, you're screwed.

But, I will agree with you. I'd been through hurricanes in NY, but I have never seen anything as powerful as Charley in my life. And Charley was half a hurricane as we never had the heavy rains or storm surge come the entire area. There was a storm surge at the marinas and in some parts of downtown Punta Gorda, but most of the damage was caused by the wind. Charley was hear and gone within an hour. When we opened our doors and looked, it looked like a bomb went off. Our double and 1/2 garage door was twisted as if it was a piece of aluminum foil.

On a lighter note, a downtown Punta Gorda Irish pub's claim to fame is that they never closed during Charley. I never got the full story, but by the time Charley was in full swing, the pub owner was host to about 20 storm chasers.

Anyway, anyone in Rita's path, get out of there.