UPDATE: 730 PM EDT
Rita continues to re-organize over the warm waters of the western Gulf of Mexico with the eye beginning to become more concentric/circular with time. A very large batch of intense convection and cold cloud tops (<-70C) is visible on the western Flank of Rita's eyewall with the northern outflow expanding due to friction against land (Louisiana/Arkansas).

Landfall still looks to occurr early Saturday morning between the TX/LA boarder and the Galveston area. My guess is maximum sustained winds at that time may be somewhere around 130 to 145 mph.

UPDATE: 500 PM EDT
After a lapse in intensity this afternoon, Hurricane Rita appears to be organizing her structure again. IR and Visible Satellite loops reveal good outflow around the entire system, especially to the north where high cirrus clouds associated with Rita extend into Arkansas. Regional Sea Surface Temperature maps reveal a pool of 29+ degree Celsius water just off the eastern Texas Coastline (near 86F). And to give you a broad idea of how high 30C water is, Rita's extreme deepening two days ago occurred over water ranging between 80 and 84F.


Landfall looks to occurr within the next 14-18 hours anywhere from the TX/LA Boarder southwestward into the Galveston Bay area. But remember, tropical storm force winds extend over 150 miles either end of the center of Rita, and hurricane force winds in a 50 mile radius. The damage swath of Rita will be large and damage will be severe. Anyone staying behind should not venture outside tonight or tomorrow.

Hurricane Rita remains a potentially catastrophic Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds near 140mph. Rita has not completed her eyewall replacement cycle that was started the other day. Her eyewall remains ragged and the outflow to the west has been broken down a bit, probably due to some westerly shear.

Rita remains over an area of relatively high sea surface content--with sea surface temperatures near 82-88F. With this said, once Rita completes her eyewall replacement cycle (probably within the next 6 hours or so), she will be over some very favorable waters for more strengthening before landfall.

On top of this, if you look closely, there are SST's near 90F right along the northeastern Texas Coastline. A major problem with the strength forecast of Rita at landfall is complicated by the fact that the depth of the warm waters decreases the closer she gets to Galveston/western LA. And as we saw with Katrina--weakening of strong hurricanes upon landfall is a frequent occurrence. But with all this aside--expect Rita to move onshore near the Galveston/Beaumont area Saturday morning as a major category 4 hurricane (slight chance it's a 5) with winds between 130 and 150 mph.

Satellite Image showing Hurricane Rita's ragged looking appearance--but still is powerful