Rita strengthens to Category 2.

[Pirate Smile]

CNN confirms - winds at 100 MPH.

Rita strengthens to Category 2
Keys residents told to 'hunker down'

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Rita strengthened to a Category 2 storm Tuesday as it pounded the Florida Keys with heavy rain and strong wind.

A reconnaissance aircraft measured maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. Category 2 storms have winds of 96-110 mph (154-177 kph).

At 11 a.m. ET, the storm was centered 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Key West and 100 miles east-northeast of Havana, Cuba.

Rita was moving to the west at 15 mph (24 kph) , with hurricane-force winds extending out 30 miles (48 kilometers) from its center. The storm had been moving to the north-northwest.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/20/rita/index.html

edit to add link to article - I posted when it was announced on TV.

Why did this get moved out of LBN?

[jus_the_facts]

1. here are the water temperatures for the Gulf.......

....it'll be interesting to see where she ends up. :(

[stray cat]

2. It intensified fast. This morning it was still a tropical storm

[Silverhair]

3. More of the circulation is over the gulf now, so it can feed more.

They feed from hot surface water. Earlier, much of the circulation of the storm was over Florida and Cuba, so it wasn't getting any energy input from those land masses. Now it is in the energy rich gulf, and is sucking up the power. Personally, I think we will see it get to CAT 4.

[Walt Starr]

4. I predict Rita will be a Category 4 after it intensifies over the Gulf

The Gulf of Mexico is a Hurricane super Charger right now. Watch this one, it's gonna be nasty.

[Darkhawk32]

5. Luckily, Katrina cooled the Gulf a littttle bit as it came through...

but it's still bad enough to be extremely worried though.

[Rainscents]

6. This doesn't look good since it's only taken short time to go to CAT 2.