...Rita expected to weaken slightly but forecast to make landfall as a dangerous hurricane...
At 10 am CDT...1500z...the eye of Hurricane Rita was located near latitude 25.4 north...longitude 88.7 west or about 460 miles...740 km...southeast of Galveston Texas and about 445 miles...715 km... southeast of Port Arthur Texas.
Rita is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph...15 km/hr. A gradual turn to the northwest is expected during the next 24 to 36 hours.
Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 165 mph...270
km/hr... with higher gusts. Rita is a category five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some slight weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours but Rita is expected to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 85 miles...140 km from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 miles...295 km.
Estimated minimum central pressure is 907 mb...26.78 inches.
Coastal storm surge flooding of 15 to 20 feet above normal tide levels along with large and dangerous battering waves can be expected near and to the right of where the center makes landfall.
Still extremely dangerous at 907 mb. Weakening at this point is like taking a head-on car accident at 60 mph instead of 70.