42001, We Hardly Knew Ye
A quick afternoon update on Hurricane Rita.
First, its important to note that tracks are trending to the northeast. (Keep an eye on the AccuWeather track in the lower left-hand corner of this blog).
Next, Buoy 42001 in the central Gulf is now nearing the eye of the hurricane. It's showing winds over 110 mph and pressure plummeting to 28.40 inches (at a rate of 0.70 per hour; a "rapid fall" is considered more than 0.03 per hour!) Waves are reading 35 feet. This may be the most impressive buoy readings that I have seen this year. I can't imagine the buoy will hang in there much longer. Even more incredible (since the storm is in the middle of the Gulf), wave heights are between 10 and 20 feet just off the coast of the Deep South.
Next, two million people are running out of gas in traffic jams trying to get out of Houston, clogging roads 100 miles outside of the city. Check out this news article, our own Penstone's blog & videos, and also Carl's blog, on the traffic situation in Houston. You can see weather and traffic cams from Texas on the WeatherMatrix site.
And finally, watch some of my cohorts tonight on the news for more of an updated, expert view than I can provide you here:
8:00 pm EDT- Bernie Rayno on Fox with O'Reilly
8:00 pm EDT- Jim Kosek on CNN Headline News with Nancy Grace
9:00 pm EDT- Joe Bastardi on Fox with Hannity and Colmes
9:00 pm EDT- Ken Reeves on CNN with Larry King Live
