Not so good it has taken so long... she might not go through another before landfall. Still some warm waters to go through.
Based on how long she strengthened before getting into this ERC, I am concerned she may end up at best just start getting into the next cycle before she hits land. In other words, if she does indeed strengthen after this cycle ends, and she looks extremely strong for having poor eye structure all day it is sad to say....she may not lose much punch as she hits the coast even if she is hitting waters with less heat potential and starting an ERC. I sure hope I am wrong and she weakens into a cat 2 or so.
I'm on the same page. Very concerned she is going to ramp back up later tonight. She has a very warm eddy to go over still, and she will be hitting right at the perfect time for her. I think we will see CAT 5 again with Rita.
As I said earlier though, don't see how the Coastal waters could support that, so she just has to weaken again before landfall.
Unfortunately, we have another Katrina scenario -- she has already built up a huge amount of surge. I am fearful of how far east she might still track. If she gets into SW LA, she could cause enough of a surge into Lake P that the weakened NO levees could give way again.