National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
POST TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORT...HURRICANE RITA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
545 PM CDT TUE OCT 4 2005

A. WIND DATA...

LOCATION         SUSTAINED 2-MIN WINDS  MAX WIND GUSTS
                        (MPH)               (MPH)

ASOS/AWOS

GREENVILLE               36                  47
(KGLH)
GREENWOOD                30*                 47*
(KGWO)
COLUMBUS                 26                  39
(KGTR)
COLUMBUS AFB             26                  36
(KCBM)
TALULLAH-VICKSBURG       33*                 48*
(KTVR)
JACKSON HAWKINS          30                  44
(KHKS)
JACKSON INTL             26                  38
(KJAN)
MERIDIAN KEY             26                  41
(KMEI)
NATCHEZ                  30*                 46*
(KHEZ)
PINE BELT-JONES          24                  35
(KPIB)
HATTIESBURG              28                  38
(KHBG)

LSU MESONET

NEWTON MS                23                  44
ST JOSEPH-TENSAS LA      35                  42
WINNSBORO-FRANKLIN LA    42                  49

RAWS

BUDE-FRANKLIN MS                             40
COPIAH                                       38
TOMBIGBEE-CHOCTAW
HOLMES                                       30
DELTA RD-SHARKEY                             30
HIGHWAY 43-MADISON
NESHOBA                                      32
WARREN
BIENVILLE-SCOTT                              34
LAUDERDALE                                   54
COVINGTON                                    32
MARION

*DENOTES SOME MISSING DATA DUE TO POWER OUTAGES


B.  SEA LEVEL PRESSURE DATA...

    NOT APPLICABLE


C.  STORM TOTAL RAIN AMOUNTS...

ASOS

GREENVILLE              6.81
GREENWOOD               3.39 *
COLUMBUS                2.64
COLUMBUS AFB            3.32
TALLULAH-VICKSBURG      2.16 *
JACKSON HAWKINS         2.66
JACKSON INTL            2.81
MERIDIAN KEY            2.38
MERIDIAN NAS            4.34
NATCHEZ                 5.56 *
PINE-BELT REGIONAL      0.11
HATTIESBURG             0.29

LSU-JSU MESONET

NEWTON                  3.11
ST JOSEPH LA            6.90
WINNSBORO LA            5.15

RAWS

BUDE                    4.07
COPIAH CNTY             0.46
TOMBIGBEE-CHOCTAW CNTY  3.52
HOLMES CNTY             3.12
DELTA RD-SHARKEY CNTY   3.94
HIGHWAY 43-MADISON CNTY 3.50
NESHOBA CNTY            1.25
WARREN CNTY             4.83
BIENVILLE - SCOTT CNTY  1.82
LAUDERDALE CNTY         4.16
COVINGTON CNTY          0.02
MARION CNTY             0.54

* DENOTES SOME MISSING DATA DUE TO POWER OUTAGES

D.  MAXIMUM STORM TIDE HEIGHTS...

    NOT APPLICABLE

E.  EXTENT OF BEACH EROSION...

    NOT APPLICABLE

F.  FLOODING AND/OR FLASH FLOODING...

AN AXIS OF VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...10 TO 15 INCHES...FELL UP THE BASIN
OF THE BIG BLACK RIVER. THIS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT FLASH FLOODING ACROSS
PARTS OF HOLMES...YAZOO...AND WARREN COUNTIES...WHERE A NUMBER OF HOMES
SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE DUE TO FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
STREAMS AND ROADWAYS OCCURRED IN OTHER PARTS OF THE AREA...BUT WAS
MORE ISOLATED AND NOT AS SIGNIFICANT.

G.  TORNADOES...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS
CONDUCTED A NUMBER OF STORM DAMAGE SURVEYS OVER THE LAST WEEK TO
INSPECT DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE RITA.  AS OF THIS
AFTERNOON...THE NWS HAS CONFIRMED 49 INDIVIDUAL TORNADOES ACROSS
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI
ASSOCIATED WITH RITA. SURVEY TEAMS ARE STILL CONDUCTING SURVEYS
TODAY...AND ADDITIONAL SURVEYS WILL BE PERFORMED THIS WEEK...SO THIS
TOTAL MAY STILL GO HIGHER.

THESE 49 TORNADOES OCCURRED IN AN APPROXIMATELY 36 HOUR PERIOD
STARTING AT 920 AM ON SATURDAY MORNING...SEPTEMBER 24TH. A NUMBER OF
THESE TORNADOES PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. A TORNADO THAT OCCURRED
IN TENSAS PARISH AT 1253 AM SUNDAY PRODUCED DAMAGE RATED AS F3 ON
THE FUJITA SCALE. EIGHT OTHER TORNADOES PRODUCED DAMAGE OF F2
INTENSITY. SEVERAL TORNADOES WITH F1 RATED DAMAGE ALSO MADE A
SIGNIFICANT IMPACT...INCLUDING THE TORNADO THAT MOVED THROUGH THE
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN STARKVILLE ON SUNDAY
AFTERNOON...AND A TORNADO EAST OF ISOLA THAT CAUSED 1 FATALITY AND 2
SERIOUS INJURIES.  WHILE A NUMBER OF TORNADOES WERE BRIEF IN
NATURE...SEVERAL LONGER TRACK TORNADOES DID OCCUR. THIS INCLUDED A
17 MILE LONG TORNADO PATH...WITH AREAS OF F2 DAMAGE...THROUGH
HUMPHREYS AND SUNFLOWER COUNTIES.

NO OTHER OUTBREAK OF TORNADOES IN THE NWS RECORDS FOR THE ARKLAMISS
REGION HAS PRODUCED AS MANY TORNADOES AS THIS EVENT. THE PREVIOUS
KNOWN RECORD FOR NUMBER OF TORNADOES FOR A SINGLE EVENT LASTING 48
HOURS OR LESS WAS 35 TORNADOES DURING THE JANUARY 21-22...1999 EVENT.

HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE TORNADOES PRODUCED BY RITA AS OF TODAY
BASED ON NWS SURVEYS AND REPORTS FROM OUR PARTNERS IN EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT...LAW ENFORCEMENT...AND UTILITY COMPANIES AND
COOPERATIVES...

TOTAL NUMBER OF TORNADOES...49
   NUMBER OF F3 TORNADOES...1
   NUMBER OF F2 TORNADOES...8
   NUMBER OF F1 TORNADOES...14
   NUMBER OF F0 TORNADOES...26

NUMBER OF TORNADOES WITH PATH LENGTH GREATER THAN 5 MILES...7

H.  PRELIMINARY STORM EFFECTS

    TORNADOES     1 DEAD      15 INJURED

$$

WFO JAN STAFF