Rita weakening.. now Cat. 3 storm…  125mph sustained winds.

Good news let us hope it continues to weaken

www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT3+shtml/231748.shtml000

WTNT33 KNHC 231748 TCPAT3 BULLETIN HURRICANE RITA INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER  24A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1 PM CDT FRI SEP 23 2005 ...RITA ON A SLOW WEAKENING TREND... A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM PORT O'CONNOR TEXAS TO MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF LOUISIANA EAST OF MORGAN CITY TO THE MOUTH OF THE PEARL RIVER INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN ...AND FROM SOUTH OF PORT O'CONNOR TO PORT ARANSAS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE. AT 1 PM CDT...1800Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 92.2 WEST OR ABOUT 190 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS AND ABOUT 175 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PORT ARTHUR TEXAS. RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THIS TRACK...THE CORE OF RITA WILL MAKE LANDFALL NEAR THE SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND UPPER TEXAS COASTS EARLY SATURDAY. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 125 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. RITA IS NOW A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. A FURTHER SLOW WEAKENING IS POSSIBLE BEFORE LANDFALL...BUT RITA IS STILL EXPECTED TO COME ASHORE AS A DANGEROUS HURRICANE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 205 MILES. AN ELEVATED PLATFORM ON ISLE DENIERES NEAR THE SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA COAST JUST REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 58 MPH. LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE PLANE WAS 931 MB...27.49 INCHES. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 15 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS... LOCALLY UP TO 20 FEET AT HEAD OF BAYS AND NEARBY RIVERS...WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL. TIDES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING ABOUT 2 FEET ABOVE NORMAL ALONG THE LOUISIANA...MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA COASTS IN THE AREAS AFFECTED BY KATRINA. TIDES IN THOSE AREAS WILL INCREASE TO 3 TO 5 FEET AND BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE WAVES...AND RESIDENTS THERE COULD EXPERIENCE COASTAL FLOODING. LARGE SWELLS GENERATED BY RITA WILL LIKELY AFFECT MOST PORTIONS OF THE GULF COAST. RITA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES OVER SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS AND SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AS IT MOVES INLAND. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS WITH ISOLATED HEAVIER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. SINCE RITA IS FORECAST TO SLOW DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER MAKING LANDFALL...TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS ACROSS EASTERN TEXAS INTO WESTERN LOUISIANA. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE TODAY OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS...SOUTHERN LOUISIANA INCLUDING SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA REPEATING THE 1 PM CDT POSITION...27.8 N... 92.2 W.  MOVEMENT TOWARD...NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH.  MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...125 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 931 MB. THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT 4 PM CDT. FORECASTER AVILA

Good news!

Can you imagine 185 MPH sustained winds in the 'oil basket' of the US?

I'll bet the Dems are disappointed.  A missed opportunity to blame you know who:

Bush!

They're blaming Bush anyway.

CRC

10 to 1 odds next time a hurricane goes barreling for Houston no one evacuates.

Quoted: I'll bet the Dems are disappointed.  A missed opportunity to blame you know who: Bush!

It could strengthen again so they still have hope.

If we continue to see this kind of loss in strength this could be a Cat 1 storm by landfall. Central pressures in the storm have significantly increased… a very good sign.

Dang this thing is decreasing fast. I predicted this morning that it would go in at 130mph. We can only hope that as it reaches the more shallow and cooler waters near shore that it will decrease more.

Quoted: Dang this thing is decreasing fast. I predicted this morning that it would go in at 130mph. We can only hope that as it reaches the more shallow and cooler waters near shore that it will decrease more.

Good. Nothing would make me happier than this thing going down to 40 mph winds by the time it hits land.

Die Rita! Die!!!

Quoted: 10 to 1 odds next time a hurricane goes barreling for Houston no one evacuates.

Sadly, I believe you are correct.

Sounds like the oil executives wont be able to gouge us on gas prices, for now at least

Quoted: Sounds like the oil executives wont be able to gouge us on gas prices, for now at least

Productin is already shut down and has been for a couple days.

I was watching the news here, and it was almost like there was disappointment in the weather people voice because it was weakening.  

When it was a cat. 5 yesterday, I though some of them were going to wet themselves.

Quoted: I was watching the news here, and it was almost like there was disappointment in the weather people voice because it was weakening.   When it was a cat. 5 yesterday, I though some of them were going to wet themselves.

Same with Katrina.

They(some of them)  desperately want another Camille to strike.

We need to start an ARFCOM refinery for members only!

Bad news is good news for people who despise the USA. Death, destruction, loss of jobs... for them anything that serves to weaken us is good. Like the stories of the Roman ladies desperately curious about when the barbarians would arrive and "when will the rapes begin" it's tragic.

Talk about death-wish. These are the people who sniffed that if Bush won they'd leave the country...but who stayed. They're the ones to assume we deserve every bad thing that happens and then are convinced we're also the sole force behind everything else that goes wrong around the world.

So we make a mistake and bomb a wedding party in Afghanistan. Oops. Non-intentional accident. We pay the survivors, heal the wounded, etc. etc. THEY HATE US FOR IT.

But then Sudan intentionally kills 2 million people and they don't even care. Had we accidentally wounded 2 Sudanese, they'd be marching in the streets outraged, shocked, and "embarrassed to be Americans". But let someone else kill 2 million people and you hear crickets.

Quoted: I was watching the news here, and it was almost like there was disappointment in the weather people voice because it was weakening.   When it was a cat. 5 yesterday, I though some of them were going to wet themselves.

Thats too funny!