Hurricane Rita.

[Marcus_surfer]

How many hurricanes have we had this year????

[Gray-Wolf]

I think as she crawls out of the Straights and into open water we could see the first burst of rapid strengthening (maybe before tonights recon?) After that it all depends on her track, their are some very warm patches of water in the Gulf at present (Esp. to the west) and if she sits over any of these she'll grow again. Her reluctance to grow over the past 24hrs has some forcasters wanting to play her down from a Cat. 3 at landfall to a Cat. 2 but I wouldn't like to guess. We shall see and know more over the next 48hrs eh?

[D KARLSON]

Come on rita love strengthen to a category 3 and finish off the gulf states oops went too far !!!!!

[PersianPaladin]

I heard Alex Deakin on News 24 say that Rita will be passing further south than New Orleans latitude and is likely to miss.

But i reckon it really depends how much ridging is extending southwards from the mid-west and whether that retreats northwards.

[PersianPaladin]

Come on rita love strengthen to a category 3 and finish off the gulf states oops went too far !!!!! 

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I think u may be kicked for that....

[Bilz]

lolololololololololol

[i luv snow]

I think u may be kicked for that....

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well i must admit i want to see another big, exciting hurricasne, yea its a shame about the damage and lives and destruction, but its an awe-inspiring sight to see. Shoudl i ever actually experience one, which right now i wouldnt mind, then i will probably change that opinion!

[PersianPaladin]

well i must admit i want to see another big, exciting hurricasne, yea its a shame about the damage and lives and destruction, but its an awe-inspiring sight to see. Shoudl i ever actually experience one, which right now i wouldnt mind, then i will probably change that opinion!

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Your damn right u would change your opinion...u'd be screaming for the damn thing to sod off southwards and glad to see the back of it.

(Unless of course u lived well inland and are spared from the life threatening flooding..then u would enjoy some big thunderstorms and heavy downpours! )

[Marcus_surfer]

Isnt Rita a rollercoaster in alton towers?

[Bilz]

Rita, Queen of Speed. Your best Alton Towers ride ever.

Well that's what it says in the advert. Not actually seen it, though. I bet it's crap.

[PersianPaladin]

Quote from Altontowers.co.uk: -

"Rita - Queen of Speed is faster than a shuttle take-off, speedier than a Ferrari, boasts more lift than an aeroplane, and is more explosive even than Nemesis and Oblivion!

She catapults from 0 to 100 kph in an awesome 2.5 seconds – and never really slows down. Throughout her dipping, tilting loops, the average speed is an incredible 60 kph. Fasten your seatbelts: this is speed as you’ve never experienced before. Start your engines for pure edge-of-the-seat racing with the prophet of propulsion."

Okkayy....I hope that doesn't bear any relation to hurricane Rita...otherwise a lot of people are going to be in serious trouble.

[Bilz]

Well if the hurricane's winds are anything like the pathetic average 60kph on Rita, I should think everyone's in the clear

[strauch67]

Rita, Queen of Speed. Your best Alton Towers ride ever.

Well that's what it says in the advert. Not actually seen it, though. I bet it's crap.

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The shear map indicates that once Rita passes Fl it is free to expand and reiforce without any obstacles

What do you think?

Ciao

[PersianPaladin]

Well if the hurricane's winds are anything like the pathetic average 60kph on Rita, I should think everyone's in the clear

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It was the 'catapulting from 0 to 100kph' that got me worried. lol.

[PersianPaladin]

"I thought it was the best, it was brilliant. Being launched at 100 mph felt sooo great ,better than rocking roller coaster in walt disney florida, next time i go i'll b the 1st person in the queue!!"

"Rita was amazing! My dad and i both queued for the front two seats and it was definately worth the wait! It gives you such a thrill and you can barely stand at the end, i loved it and i cant wait to go on it again next year!!"

Is this slightly NOT the queue to be in the hurricane?

(oh dear...when will people learn... )

[Bilz]

"I thought it was the best, it was brilliant. Being launched at 100 mph felt sooo great ,better than rocking roller coaster in walt disney florida, next time i go i'll b the 1st person in the queue!!"

"Rita was amazing! My dad and i both queued for the front two seats and it was definately worth the wait! It gives you such a thrill and you can barely stand at the end, i loved it and i cant wait to go on it again next year!!"

Is this slightly NOT the queue to be in the hurricane?

(oh dear...when will people learn... )

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Are those quotes from the website? Note how people have got their units mixed up

[P.K.]

How many hurricanes have we had this year????

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This is the 9th in the North Atlantic

I heard Alex Deakin on News 24 say that Rita will be passing further south than New Orleans latitude and is likely to miss.

I'd have thought so, a couple of the GFDL runs have been in that region but generally model runs have been a fair bit west of that.

well i must admit i want to see another big, exciting hurricasne, yea its a shame about the damage and lives and destruction, but its an awe-inspiring sight to see. Shoudl i ever actually experience one, which right now i wouldnt mind, then i will probably change that opinion!

Was Maria not strong enough then? (100kts)

[Kain]

Eye is starting to form now

Kain

[kaz]

Come on rita love strengthen to a category 3 and finish off the gulf states oops went too far !!!!! 

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Hi Sorry i did lmao when i read your post. I think the thing is we have 2 hats we have our weather one and our compasionate one. but the second comes after the first. We all love extreem weather thats why we are on here, of course we want to see it develop into a beast, it gives us something to chat about. but none of us like to see the terrible devistation in NO. So come on peps be honest and get a SH.

lol kaz xx

[i luv snow]

Was Maria not strong enough then? (100kts)

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im just saying i like to see big hurricanes, and see the power they can build, and unleashe (no disprespect to the victims who i fully sympathise with)

[Mondy]

You can see it really intensify once it started to get out of the Florida straights. If you're watching the IR/local doppler loops it's like someone flipped a switch.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-ir4-loop.html

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-wv-loop.html

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/float-vis-loop.html

She's now gonna have a field day as she enters the GoM.

Pressure down to 980mb now. I'd expect Cat 2 soon.

[Bilz]

im just saying i like to see big hurricanes, and see the power they can build, and unleashe    (no disprespect to the victims who i fully sympathise with)

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Yeah, the bigger the better. I remember this time last year, it was very exciting to keep track of Hurricane Ivan's wind recordings, watching gusts reach 200mph at one point with sustained winds to 165mph, and wondering if it would make landfall at that intensity. How I would have loved to have been there in the storm with my WindWatch. I was considering getting a cheap flight out there at one point

[kold weather]

I think hurricane Rita is the first hurricane to hit the Keys for a long time.another system will go down in this years uniqueness.There is some shear out in the GOM that may slow this systems formation and its path does take it into waters cooled down by Katrina over the next day or two before pushing into virgin waters and shear decreasing as ridge expands and that should mean this storm growing to a cat-4 system I reckon,seas are hot enough to support it.

As I suspect for a long while(I think last week I forecasted this system to be a big threat)this system looks like it'll push towards Texas,I think Houston may well see at elast tropical storm force winds from Rita,could even be a galveston strike.As i said a few days ago it was highly unlikely that Rita would just slam int othe gulf at this time of year,usually troughs dig down as we are now pushing into Autumn,which turns the system northwards towards the weakness.

Eye definatly forming on that satilite image,looks a impressive system and certainly looks like a cat-1 to me with pressure decreasing and organising decntly,the keys are going to get a fair amount of wind and rain from this system,this system is to much of a threat not evacuate,esp if it does swing more to the right then expected towards where all those NO residents are housed presently,I feel so sorry for those...

[Roo]

The people of New Orleans are being evacuated once again....poor people!

Yes, hurricanes are very interesting, but they are also one of the most terrifying things on the planet. A little less flippancy about this would be appreciated (many people don't have a choice whether they have to witness them or not and a lot lose everything in the process....)

[PersianPaladin]

The people of New Orleans are being evacuated once again....poor people!

Yes, hurricanes are very interesting, but they are also one of the most terrifying things on the planet. A little less flippancy about this would be appreciated (many people don't have a choice whether they have to witness them or not and a lot lose everything in the process....)

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Here's hoping it stalls in the gulf and blows itself out.....