That's
official.
^^^ UPDATE 08:00 p.m. EDT, 9/21/05 ^^^
Rita is now the 3rd strongest Atlantic hurricane on record with a CP of 898 mb, surpassing Katrina's lowest recorded CP of 902 mb. She is growing in size as well, with 165 mph winds extending 70 miles outward from the eye. Rita now has the potential to be extraordinarily devastasting -- the lowest central pressure ever recorded is 882 mb, a mark that Rita could well challenge. Do not take any chances with this storm. If you have even the slightest thought about evacuating, listen to it and stay safe.
The warm Gulf of Mexico works like a hurricane machine. From now on, whenever a tropical storm or a weak hurricane enters the Gulf, and is going to a few day hike across, we have to say "Oops, he it goes again..." and hope for a lucky trajectory or lucky wind sheers.
[UPDATE ~6:50 PM PDT] Yet more officially, from
NOAA:
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.
[UPDATE ~7:10 PM PDT] Some
food for thought:
Rita and Katrina both found the perfect hurricane fuel - ultra-deep, super-warm water - and then lingered there, storm researchers said.
The result: For the first time in one hurricane season, two Category 5 hurricanes powered across the Gulf of Mexico toward the U.S. coast.
Both storms hit what scientists call the Loop Current, an annual 100-mile swath of 82-degree water between the Florida Keys and the mouth of the Mississippi River that's 300 feet deep, said Frank Marks, the director of the Hurricane Research Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Normally, warm water is about 125 feet deep.---
As Katrina passed over an eddy of the Loop Current in late August, it should have cooled the water by about 5 degrees Fahrenheit. It didn't and that surprised scientists.