Hurricane Rita ( Bad News For Gulf )

It's disturbing to me that some 20,000 residents of Calcasieu Parish may not have left their homes. They're at ground-zero for the storm, not far above sea level, and almost completely unprotected.

Originally posted by Harry55
That would be a big surprise would it not ?

Some models are hinting at it, might not be a surprise come tomorrow...a long shot, but not ruling it out.

Here's a spaghetti run of the models

1:06 AM FROM ACCU WEATHER


Today's Discussion Posted: September 24, 2005 1:06 a.m.



Hurricane force winds spreading into the western Louisiana coast


As of 12:00 A.M. CDT Saturday, Rita was centered near 29.2 north and 93.5 west, or 40 miles south-southeast of Sabine Pass near the Louisiana/Texas border. The minimum central pressure was 934 millibars (27.58 inches of mercury). Rita is moving to the northwest at 11 mph. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 85 miles, and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles from the center of circulation. The storm will make landfall as a dangerous Category 3 hurricane between 2 A.M. and 3 A.M. CDT. Tropical storm-force winds in rain squalls continue to spread inland across southern Louisiana along the northern side of Rita, and wind gusts to near hurricane force are arriving along the upper Texas and southwest and south-central Louisiana coasts. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas reported a wind gust of 81 mph at 11:26 PM CDT.

1 AM FROM NOAA

AT MIDNIGHT CDT...0500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 29.2 NORTH... LONGITUDE 93.5 WEST OR ABOUT 40 MILES
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF SABINE PASS ALONG THE GULF COAST AT THE
TEXAS/LOUISIANA BORDER.

RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 11 MPH. THIS GENERAL
MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL LANDFALL. A GRADUAL
TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED ON SATURDAY.

REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT INDICATE
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 120 MPH...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
RITA IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. LITTLE CHANGE IN STRENGTH IS EXPECTED PRIOR TO LANDFALL.
GRADUAL WEAKENING IS EXPECTED AFTER RITA MOVES INLAND.

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE JUST REPORTED BY THE HURRICANE HUNTER
IS 934 MB...27.58 INCHES.

THIS HAPPENS AFTER LAND FALL ! .

From latest report by NOAA.

SINCE RITA IS EXPECTED TO SLOW DOWN DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS...
RAINFALL TOTALS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER EASTERN TEXAS
AND WESTERN LOUISIANA. MAXIMUM RAINFALL TOTALS IN EXCESS OF 25
INCHES COULD OCCUR OVER LOCALIZED AREAS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO
5 INCHES WITH ISOLATED HEAVIER TOTALS ARE POSSIBLE OVER
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS

[edit on 24-9-2005 by Harry55]

[edit on 24-9-2005 by Harry55]

Rita Makes Landfall




If not its close. Hope everyone there safe.

Looks like Bastardi Inc. is a little on the conservative side with accuwx images, although I heard him on the radio today that he was saying over 24-30 inches of rain in parts.

Originally posted by Harry55
Rita Makes Landfall

If not its close. Hope everyone there safe.

Looks like she still has about 50 miles on the radar

This May Set Yet Another Record NOAA

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE
WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF PORT ALLEN

* UNTIL 115 AM CDT

* AT 1251 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR BATON
ROUGE...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 55 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
BAKER AT 105 AM CDT

SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR
HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

Er, this isn't on the way to NO again surely - seems to be a bit that way to me- that would be v strange wouldnt it? I see there's already talk of tornadoes ......and the levees are already down. Definitely seems to be almost following the coast. Wherever it hits lets hope that they're aren't too many people around.

its really weird here in houston on the west side of town there is no rain or very minor rain because there is very dry air and wind shear from this side and its really cutting the rain bands off, we are getting lots of clouds and some pretty strong gusts, i went out about 5 mins ago, 1:25 local time and the drizzle is coming fast and sideways but its a light light rain and one gust kinda lifted me up a little bit.

jacquescas, You are up high enough to be away from storm surge are you not. Because Rita is just now making landfall. The next 2 to 3 hours could make a huge differance.

I would hate to think that all those people evacuated Houston for nothing and that people in parts of LA are going to drown

Whereabouts in TX are you eeper? Somewhere safe I hope! Not sure where it's going to hit, but seems to be going along the coast.......strange thing this.

You know I hate to think that everyone may have played Rita off as a storm that died and they end up that way. It may be bad to say but I am afraid some will.

Hi All!

I had to take care of my family and other things. I have to say that I am in a bit of awe how dedicated people have been in updating this forum. It makes my heart proud to be a member. I have just finished reading the pages of info that I missed. I am glad that Rita's winds have died down, even though they are still strong enough to cause havock. I am anxious to see if she does stall out and return to the gulf.(Remember Ivans two step dance?!)

Here is a Yahoo story that gives a good summary of pretty much everything that has been going on concerning Rita. news.yahoo.com...

And here is a brief report from the weather channel :
Hurricane Rita's northern eyewall coming ashore

2:06 a.m. ET 9/24/2005
Tim Ballisty, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel
Wind gusts of at least 90 to 115 mph is battering coastal areas of southwest Louisiana as Hurricane Rita comes closer to making landfall. Rita's northern eyewall is now closing in along the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana and Jefferson County, Texas. There are reports of downtown flooding in Cameron and Lake Charles, Louisiana and there is no doubt that a powerful surge has overcome portions of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Winds have gusted to 112 mph at Cameron, Louisiana while Beaumont, Texas has gusted above 80 mph. Rainfall has obviously been torrential across parts of east Texas and the southern half of Louisiana.


I am checking some other sites to see if I can find some images and more projection of her predicted path.

Here's some personal weather stations in Houston area:

www.bluebonnetwebdesigns.com...

geocities.com...@sbcglobal.net/wx.htm

www.friendswoodweather.com...

home.houston.rr.com...

home.earthlink.net...

Latest Satelite Imagery From Accu Weather

Here is the latest IR from NOAA:



It seems as if she hasnt quite landed yet. I also found this update in Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : www.wunderground.com...

He also mentions the move back out to sea senario.

sylvrshadow, Glad to see you back. Hope all is fine or at least gets better for you and your family. Thats what is great about ATS and its members we are here to help and make a differance.I just hope that what we do helps someone.

[edit on 24-9-2005 by Harry55]