AT 10 AM CDT…1500Z…THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 31.0 NORTH…LONGITUDE 94.3 WEST…NEAR JASPER TEXAS. RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 12 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 75 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. RITA IS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

Hurricane Rita has weakened to a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 100 mph. Weakening will continue through the late morning and afternoon.

More from the National Hurricane Center.

How will Rita impact our weather this weekend? Good question!

Lots of disagreement in the computer models this morning concerning where Rita is headed over the next several days. One thing is for certain: east Texas and western Lousiana will receive torrential rains (isolated areas could see 20″ + of rain). High clouds will cover much of Tennessee today, but we should stay dry. I can’t rule out an isolated shower in southwestern Tennessee late this afternoon but don’t worry about it slowing you down if you live in that area and have plans outside. If Rita lingers in Texas for the next couple of days, we won’t see much rain from this system on Sunday or Monday. My current forecast includes the chance of an isolated t’shower from Sunday through Wednesday. Our better rain chance may arrive Wednesday as a front pushes in from the north. Behind that system: Fall. Highs on Thursday and Friday should only be in the middle 70s!

Rita made landfall as a Category 3 in southwestern Lousiana in Cameron Parish early this morning around 2:30 am CDT between Sabine Pass and Johnson’s Bayou. The hardest hit areas are right along the Texas and Louisiana state line, where storm surges reached 15 feet above normal. Winds have gusted to 112 mph at Cameron, Louisiana while Beaumont, Texas has gusted above 80 mph. Rainfall has been torrential across parts of east Texas and the southern half of Louisiana. New Orleans will continue to take on heavy rain druing the morning hours: not good.

Rita should weaken this morning as she pushes inland, but flooding rains and power outages will continue to cause problems for several days in eastern Texas and Louisiana.

More from the National Hurricane Center:

SINCE RITA IS EXPECTED TO SLOW DOWN DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS…RAINFALL TOTALS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER EASTERN TEXAS AND WESTERN LOUISIANA. MAXIMUM RAINFALL TOTALS IN EXCESS OF 25 INCHES COULD OCCUR OVER LOCALIZED AREAS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES WITH ISOLATED HEAVIER TOTALS ARE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY…AND SATURDAY NIGHT OVER FAR EASTERN TEXAS…LOUISIANA…SOUTHERN ARKANSAS…AND MISSISSIPPI.

The eyewall of Rita… with 120mph winds… will come ashore very near the Texas/Louisiana state line around midnight.
Southwestern Louisiana will face up to a 15 foot storm surge which could produce major damage in several small communities along the coastline.

The National Hurricane Center still believes the remnants of Rita will stall out in eastern Texas and could dump as much as 20 inches of rain in isolated areas by the first of next week…. Flooding is a Big Concern!

The 1 pm CDT update shows Rita as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph. Movement to the northwest continues at 10 mph. Landfall should occur tomorrow morning near the Texas and Louisiana state line.

Been busy this afternoon performing a few upgrades to 3-D Storm Tracker. Normally, we have access to four live radar sites (Nashville, Memphis, Huntsville, Hopkinsville) but I’ve swapped two of those with Houston and Lake Charles radar sites so we can closely watch Rita through the weekeend.

Beautiful weather out there this afternoon, but quite warm for the first full day of Fall. Temperatures will take a reality check by the middle of next week, so we can expect highs back in the upper 70s and lower 80s within the week.

From the National Hurricane Center’s late morning advisory:

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 135 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. RITA IS AT THE BORDER OF CATEGORY FOUR AND THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. SLIGHT WEAKENING IS POSSIBLE BEFORE LANDFALL…BUT RITA IS EXPECTED TO COME ASHORE AS A MAJOR HURRICANE.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 85 MILES FROM THE CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 205 MILES.

Click here to see Hurricane Rita’s latest forecast track.

Links to visible satellite loop and infrared satellite loop.