The Hurricane Rita tornado outbreak was a significant

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

-produced

tornado outbreak __NOTOC__ A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least two rotational l ...

and severe weather event that resulted from the remnants of

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten L ...

in late-September 2005. The event was the fourth-largest tornado outbreak caused by a tropical cyclone in recorded history. After the hurricane made landfall on the extreme southwestern coast of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

on September 24, the tropical cyclone's strong

rainband A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands can be stratiform or convective, and are generated by differences in temperature. When noted on weather radar ima ...

s affected much of the West South Central and East South Central States, producing heavy rainfall in addition to numerous tornadoes. Tornadic activity was distributed roughly evenly from September 24–25, though activity shifted slightly eastward on September 25. The severe activity ended by September 26, by which time the remnants of Hurricane Rita were absorbed by a frontal boundary. As a result of Hurricane Rita, 98 tornadoes were confirmed over nearly a two-day period. Most of the tornadoes occurred in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, where 49 tornadoes were confirmed. With forty-four tornadoes in a single day, this is tied for the largest tornado outbreak in state history in a single day.April 18 Mississippi tornado count now at 44, ties record
WREG, April 19, 2019 The strongest tornado throughout the outbreak was an F3 tornado which struck areas of southeastern Louisiana late on September 24, injuring three people. Despite the large number of tornadoes, only one death resulted, which occurred as a result of an F1 tornado in Mississippi on September 24. However, another F1 tornado near

Starkville, Mississippi Starkville is a city in, and the county seat of, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. Mississippi State University is a land-grant institution and is located partially in Starkville but primarily in an adjacent unincorporated area desig ...

injured seven people on September 25 making it the tornado with the most injuries during the outbreak. The same tornado was also the costliest, causing $2 million in damages. Overall, tornadoes during the outbreak killed one person and injured 23, and caused $18.373 million in damages.

Background

Hurricane Rita developed from a

tropical wave A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...

north of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

on September 18. Tracking westward, the disturbance quickly intensified to

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

intensity later that day before panning out in intensification due to increased

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

. However, Rita moved into favorable conditions in the Straits of Florida, allowing it to strengthen into hurricane strength on September 20 and further to Category 2 hurricane intensity six hours after. The abundance of abnormally warm

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies according to the measurement method used, but it is between and below the sea surface. Air mass ...

s and a favorable

outflow Outflow may refer to: *Capital outflow, the capital leaving a particular economy *Bipolar outflow, in astronomy, two continuous flows of gas from the poles of a star *Outflow (hydrology), the discharge of a lake or other reservoir system * Outflow ...

pattern allowed for continued rapid intensification. By the time Rita emerged into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

, it was already a major hurricane. Intensification was further aided by the warm waters of the

Loop Current A parent to the Florida Current, the Loop Current is a warm ocean current that flows northward between Cuba and the Yucatán Peninsula, moves north into the Gulf of Mexico, loops east and south before exiting to the east through the Florida Stra ...

, and as a result, Rita reached Category 5 hurricane intensity on September 21, the highest rating classified on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. At 0300 UTC on September 22, Rita reached its peak intensity with

maximum sustained wind The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unl ...

s of 180 mph (285 km/h) and a minimum

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

of 895

mbar The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but not part of the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly equal to 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), or slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea leve ...

(

hPa HPA may refer to: Organizations * Harry Potter Alliance, a charity * Halifax Port Authority, Canada * Hamburg Port Authority, Germany * Hawaii Preparatory Academy, a school in Hawaii, US * Health Protection Agency, UK * Heerespersonalamt, the Ger ...

; 26.43

inHg Inch of mercury (inHg and ″Hg) is a non- SI unit of measurement for pressure. It is used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States. It is the pressure exerted by a column of mercury in heigh ...

), making it the strongest

recorded in the

, as well as the fourth-strongest tropical cyclone recorded in the entirety of the

Atlantic basin The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. Rita maintained peak intensity for 18 hours before an

eyewall replacement cycle In meteorology, eyewall replacement cycles, also called concentric eyewall cycles, naturally occur in intense tropical cyclones, generally with winds greater than , or major hurricanes ( Category 3 or above). When tropical cyclones reach this int ...

took place on September 22, causing the hurricane to weaken. At the same time, the initially westward moving storm began to curve northwestward. Although the cycle eventually completed, the movement of Rita over cooler

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

waters caused it to continue weakening. Rita weakened down to Category 3 intensity before making landfall in extreme southwestern

at 0740 UTC on September 24. At the time, the major hurricane had winds of 120 mph and a minimum barometric pressure of 937 mbar (hPa; 27.67 inHg). Once inland, Rita began to rapidly weaken as a result of increasing vertical wind shear. The hurricane was downgraded to tropical storm intensity roughly 12 hours after landfall. Moving in a general northward motion, Rita degenerated into a tropical depression over southwestern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

the following day based on

weather radar Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...

. The depression continued to weaken before it transitioned into a remnant low shortly before being absorbed by a cold front on September 26 over

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Event summary

September 24

The first indications that a potentially severe and tornadic event would result from Hurricane Rita were on September 22, when models showed that an area of wind shear located over

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

would be favorable for tornadoes to develop from the hurricane's rainbands. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) posted a slight risk for severe weather for the region in their Day 3 Severe Thunderstorm Outlook issued at 0738 UTC on September 22. The slight risk area was expanded to include areas of Louisiana and

the following day, as the SPC noted the possibility of tornadoes forming within small supercells embedded within Rita's rainbands. During the first day of the tornado outbreak, the slight risk region was further expanded to account for Rita's expanding wind field. *List below is currently incomplete

September 25

*List below is currently incomplete

September 26

*List below is currently incomplete

Notes

References

External links

* {{2005 tornado outbreaks Hurricane Rita Tornadoes of 2005 Tornadoes in the United States 2005 natural disasters in the United States F3 tornadoes Tornadoes in Alabama Tornadoes in Arkansas Tornadoes in Louisiana Tornadoes in Mississippi September 2005 events in North America Rita tornado outbreak