Rita and Corpus Christi

[Ginofan]

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

[CharlieMac]

3rd most intense hurricane on record.

ing nuts.

[Vashner]

Ruuuuunnnnnnnnnn

[MannyIsGod]

And just like that, you have a 'cane that surpasses Katrina. I wasn't sure I'd ever see that, much less one month later.

[Vashner]

THREAT OF HURRICANE RITA FORCES MANDATORY EVACUATION OF ENTIRE COUNTY

The City of Corpus Christi and Nueces County have ordered the mandatory evacuation of Nueces County in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Rita. Mayor Henry Garrett and County Judge Terry Shamsie called for the evacuation as of 6pm today, encouraging people to seek shelter in inland locations. Winds from Hurricane Rita are currently reaching 165mph. It is still early, but the storm is expected to make landfall in the Port O’Connor area sometime early Saturday morning, bringing high winds and rain to the Corpus Christi area as early as Friday afternoon. City Manager Skip Noe would like the City to be evacuated by noon Friday.

The City of Corpus Christi is working with the Regional Transportation Authority to provide assistance to persons with disabilities and those who may not have transportation. People who need evacuation assistance should call 289-5881. The RTA will provide transportation to Oveal Williams Senior Center , where buses are available to transport people out of town.

Corpus Christi City Hall and the Nueces County Courthouse will not be open for normal business on Thursday or Friday. This will allow for better use of City and County resources should they be needed to deal with the situation.

City of Corpus Christi release

[CharlieMac]

What are the chances of a voluntary evac for Bexar?

[SpursWoman]

You can voluntarily evac anytime you want to....

[CharlieMac]

You can voluntarily evac anytime you want to....

Harrrrr.....

[MannyIsGod]

The chances for an EVAC for Bexar is zilch

[Vashner]

What are the chances of a voluntary evac for Bexar?

Zero..... we have systems to handle floodwaters.. we be fine mon..

[CharlieMac]

Zero..... we have systems to handle floodwaters.. we be fine mon..

I used to think so.

[CharlieMac]

"Mon'". Damn dude, now I'm goin to be saying that all day tomorrow.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

holy this thing is the third most intense storm recorded ever!

[MannyIsGod]

no no, the third most intense storm in the atlantic basin. The Pacific has the 10 top storms or so. They usually get way bigger over there.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

This evacuation is totally exposing the flaw of living in big cities, and by big i mean anythign bigger than ~60000, which isn't big at all.

I heard how its at a ing standstill on the highways still inside victoria city limits, it will probably take at least 8 or 9 hours to get to austin from victoria

[MannyIsGod]

Well, at least they have plenty of time.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Yeah but i wonder how bad it'll be tommorow morning or afternoon

Man im buggin out on this ing storm, i have so much to study and i cant concentrate for

[Manu20]

The 7:09 pm eye report from the hurricane hunters found a 904 mb pressure and flight level winds of 161 knots (186 mph). This pressure makes Rita the 3rd strongest Atlantic hurricane of all time. Tonight, Rita will be passing over the Loop Current, a warm eddy of water in the Gulf that aided Katrina's growth to a Category 5 hurricane. Fueled by this pool of deep warm water and an almost ideal upper level wind environment, Rita should continue to intensify until Thursday morning, when she will pass beyond the Loop Current. The eye has shrunk to 20 nm diameter from 25 nm earlier this afternoon. By the time the eye shrinks down to 10 nm, the eyewall will collapse and an eyewall replacement cycle begin, putting an end to this intensification cycle. With potentially another 12 hours to go before this happens, Rita could challenge Gilbert's 888 mb pressure record.

The list of strongest hurricanes of all time now reads:

Hurricane Gilbert (888 mb, 1988)

The Great Labor Day Hurricane (892 mb, 1935)

Hurricane Rita (898 mb, 2005)

Hurricane Allen (899 mb, 1980)

Hurricane Katrina (902 mb, 2005)

Hurricane Camille (905 mb, 1969)

I expect to rewrite this list when the next reconnaissance aircraft reaches Rita about 9pm tonight. How low can Rita go?

Jeff Masters

Can Rita break Gilberst's record of 888mb pressure?

I will give it a 60% chance.

[MannyIsGod]

Has anyone had trouble with Houston cell phones? I can't get through to Jess' phone and she can't call any of her family in Houston.

[Horry For 3!]

Has anyone had trouble with Houston cell phones? I can't get through to Jess' phone and she can't call any of her family in Houston.

Yeah, my mom did. She tried to call her mother & father, they live in Conroe, which is between Houston, Galveston. They're leaving tomorrow and going to live with my uncle in Austin.

[Vashner]

Hum if they are going to Austin they might consider going up 281.. I heard on radio highway 35 to Austin is at a standstill..

(come to San Antonio.. got north 281 to 290 .. then east to west Austin..)

[boutons]

hey, what's happened to the models? the graphic is broken, but seems like there is a totally new direction after landfall, like RIGHT AT SAN ANTONIO.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical...518_model.html

[gay abc]

You can voluntarily evac anytime you want to....

[Ginofan]

The latest runs of two key computer models, the GFS and GFDL, now indicate that the trough of low pressure that was expected to pick up Rita and pull her rapidly northward through Texas will not be strong enough to do so. Instead, these models forecast that Rita will make landfall near Galveston, penetrate inland between 50 and 200 miles, then slowly drift southwestward for nearly two days as a high pressure ridge build in to her north. Finally, a second trough is forecast to lift Rita northwards on Tuesday. If this scenario develops, not only will the coast receive catastrophic damage from the storm surge, but interior Texas, including the Dallas/Fort Worth area, might see a deluge of 15 - 30 inches of rain. A huge portion of Texas would be a disaster area. It is also possible that Rita may not make landfall on Saturday as expected, but pull up just short of the Texas coast and pound it for days as it waits for the next trough to pick it up. We'll have to wait for the next set of model runs due out by tomorrow morning to know better.

[SpursWoman]

W.T.F. ?!?!?!?