Hurricane Rita *** Rita posts in this thread only!! ***

[Reality]

With all of the users here that will be affected by Hurricane Rita, this thread was created to centralize all of the discussions.

Please do not make any new threads regarding Hurricane Rita!!

 

[calico]

My parents are in Houston and are going to stick it out...I tried to convince them to come up to Austin, but my dad is a stubborn son a of a *****.

I am already housing 3 friends from Houston along with their dogs and cats in a one bedroom apartment...its been fun.

I really hope it dies down once it hits land.

 

[SkinsandTerps]

Family been living here in Corpus Christi since 1920's bro and weve seen plenty Canes but this one is a scary one.. THe scariest one for me atleast I know people all around here and from the north are driving south cause its safer than going north at this moment..alot of traffic its just a mess to try and do something outside right now..

Best wishes to you and yours.

Get in the car already. Geez. Stay safe.

 

[Capt.Gut]

Good luck to all of you! Stay safe. Best wishes from Germany.

 

[Qwickdraw]

Take a note from Katrina and get the **** outta Dodge.
Don't try to be Braveheart. There will be plenty of time for heroics afterward.

Good luck to you all. You are in our thoughts.

 

[TheKey]

Well im right in the path and in line for a direct hit. As we speak I am packing up to head to Big D. Stay safe everyone and God Bless.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Anyone in the path....get out and don't even chance it....please be safe and best wishes to all.

 

[jsond]

Take a note from Katrina and get the **** outta Dodge.
Don't try to be Braveheart. There will be plenty of time for heroics afterward.

Good luck to you all. You are in our thoughts.

 

[CowboyPrincess]

haha!...Dallas is too far inland to for any hurricane.

You might get some rain out of it, but if you live in anywhere south of Central Texas, theres a chance you might be hating life for a couple of days.

Well, that would be me. Rita is expected to cause us some really heavy storms and flooding here in Central Texas. We have a river that runs through town off the lake. We will probably see lots of flooding..

And I'm trying to move into my new house this weekend... My apartment had water all the way to my steps last time it flooded here. My house is on higher ground so hopefully won't see any flooding, but getting to it from the apartment is gonna be hard

I noticed a few saying they are going to ride the hurricane out... ARE YOU CRAZY!!! This one is Katrina's twin. GET OFF THE COASTLINE NOW! If you are on the coast and don't leave, there is a really huge chance that none of us will ever have the chance to talk to you again cuz you'll be dead.

Get your families the heck out of there. No house, car, boat or job is worth your life and the lives of your loved ones...

 

[SuspectCorner]

riding it out in sour lake texas - about 30 miles north of the coast between Port Arthur and Galveston. taping windows and moving stuff into the garage today.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

riding it out in sour lake texas - about 30 miles north of the coast between Port Arthur and Galveston. taping windows and moving stuff into the garage today.

Wow, hope everything works out okay... Fortunately, the latest discussion from the NHC about an hour and a half ago forecast the storm to weaken somewhat due to cooler Gulf temps and increasing shear. Maybe it will get down to a three or so before it makes landfall.

 

[k19]

 

[GTaylor]

Here's a good site to track Rita, http://www.stormtracker.noaa.gov/stormtracker-rita.htm

5 Day outlook (Dallas may not get hit as hard as feared - but if you have family in Louisiana you may want to warn them): http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3%2Bshtml/144728.shtml?5day?large

Satellite loop for Rita:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/rgb-loop.html

For those in the Mid-South Texas area, be safe and I'll be praying for you guys.

 

[cowboyfan4life_mark]

haha!...Dallas is too far inland to for any hurricane.

Yeah, Charlotte was supposed to be to far inland with Hugo. Guess what? Sustained winds at 80mph coming through!!

 

[SuspectCorner]

Yeah, Charlotte was supposed to be to far inland with Hugo. Guess what? Sustained winds at 80mph coming through!!

isn't dallas about twice as far from a coast as charlotte?

 

[5 Super Bowls]

My fiancee lives in Memphis right now. She had extensive damage from Katrina and 70 mph winds. 7 hour drive to New Orleans. Dallas 5 hour drive to Houston. The storm has weakened, but yesterday they projected 80+ mph winds in dallas.

I think that all of that has changed. The storm has moved east, and has slowed down. Hopefully it will slow down enough to degenerate itself. If is going to be a 3 or 4 when it hits, I just hope everyone gets out of the way.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

God Bless all of you who are in the path of this beast. My prayers are with youo. Stay safe and keep us posted.

 

[LILCOOK]

Ok now everyone should know the storm has decreased to a category four today. I looked up some nice information, and their saying the Hurricane might Increase bk up to a five tonight. Their saying it'll decrease again to a four, but a much stronger four than what is right now. Looks like it also has moved more eastern than expected. So the winds should not be a major factor here In dallas area rather more towards the north eastern parts of dallas more like to say cities like plano garland rockwall in that precidation. Well Im In the gp-arl area and were still expecting heavy and major flooding. Fortworth sould not be to worried mostly the gp- north eastern dallas should worry about major flooding and who knows Im not a expert just judging on the information read and map reads.

Port arthur is now the sight of landfall now and here some good info i read about it increasing again to a 5 tonight.

RITA STABILIZES AS VERY DANGEROUS CAT 4 HURRICANE
STORM MOVING NORTHWESTWARD -- LANDFALL THREAT
PORT ARTHUR AT GREATEST RISK OF LANDFALL IN 44 HOURS
SEVERE FLASH FLOOD THREAT THROUGH MONDAY
The eye wall replacement cycle that began this morning is nearing completion, as evidenced by
the improved satellite imagery signature and the latest RECON reports. The central pressure
that had risen to 915mb this morning, is now falling off gradually to 913mb, while the thermal
eye wall temp differential that had risen to 4°C this AM, has risen to 7°C as of 2:50PM CDT.
MAX sustained winds were earlier reported at 122Kts (130mph sustained surface) which is a
CAT 4 intensity -- but in the past hour, have increased to 133Kts in the NW quadrant. It is
safe to assume winds are currently around 140Kts in the NE quadrant, or 145mph near
the surface -- a very strong CAT 4 intensity. The height of the 700mb surface has fallen 10 meters
in the last few hours, to 2329 meters.

The storm is now located near 25.8N/89.5W or 390NM SE of Port Arthur. The storm is now
moving NW (305°) at 9Kts based on the last 3 hours of fixes. The crew continues to report a
double eyewall with a diameter of 18NM and 48NM -- but the thermal and pressure trends, along
with the improved colder CDO signature -- tend to indicate the eye wall recycling is either completed,
or has simply stabilized for now.

The latest 18Z models, including the late , full cycle 12Z run and GFS Ensemble forecast, are
in extreme agreement with a landfall very near Port Arthur around 1PM CDT on Saturday.
The GFS and NOGAPS are to the right of this landfall envelope, showing the storm crossing
the coast right along the LA/TX state line. The models are also in agreement that the storm has peaked
in intensity, and will gradually weaken on it's way to the coast -- making landfall as a very strong
CAT 3 or low end CAT 4. Intensity forecasts are extremely unreliable in general -- as evidenced by
the extraordinary deepening of the storm yesterday. That said -- I believe we will see RITA regain
CAT 5 intensity tonight, and then begin a slow weakening during the final 24 hours before
landfall -- which will come as a CAT 4.

However, because of RITA's extreme pressure and prolonged period over the Gulf as a CAT 5 storm, the
storm surge will be equal to that of CAT 5 hurricane. A tidal surge of 20-22 feet, with Port Arthur
most vulnerable to catastrophic storm surge damage -- will likely cover a 20-30 mile stretch of coast
from the point of landfall eastward, with 13-18 ft extending to 50-80 miles east of the point of landfall.
Gale force winds extend out for over 200 miles from the center -- and gusts to gale force will reach
over to the New Orleans area. A tidal storm surge of 4-8 feet will hit the Mississippi Delta region
over to Grand Isle, LA.

Of growing concern post landfall is the path of the storm after it makes landfall Saturday. All the
global models are forecasting Rita to slow down and become quasi stationary by late Saturday night
somewhere along the TX/LA border about 100-150 miles inland. This occurs in response to the
rebuilding of a ridge to the north of the storm over the central U.S.. The ridge then continues to
expand towards the east and southeast, and is expected to turn Rita towards the southwest later
Sunday and into Monday. In the process, and although the winds will calm down -- the storm will
likely bring over 48 hours of torrential rainfall to much of Louisiana on southwestward towards the
Houston area - after the storm comes inland. This greatly raises the chances of severe flash flooding
over inland areas on Sunday and Monday -- with rainfall totals easily exceeding 25" in some locations
- with 30" or more quite possible in some isolated locations.

A Storm Surge and Wind Forecast forecast Graphic will be sent out, along with a brief update on the storm itself
around 8PM CDT. A full forecast package will be sent around 11:30 tonight after all the 00Z global model arrives.

 

[marz512]

heres a great website to track the progress of Rita... I know there are many site to choose from, but this one always seems to be the most consistent...this one is even more consistent than military weather radar. Being in Japan, we get 3 typhoons a month, so its important to keep track of weather here.

http://forecast.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/shadow/tracker/dynamic/main.html

 

[dougonthebench]

we dodged a "bomb" so to speak.Keep the Houston area in your thoughts and prayers.