BULLETIN
HURRICANE RITA ADVISORY NUMBER 15
GOLRFC/MIDWEST HURRICANE CENTER ST. LOUIS MO
1 AM CDT WED SEP 21 2005


...RITA RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING NOW A STRONG CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE...

AT 1AM CDT THE CODE BLUE TROPICAL STORM WARNINGS REMAIN FOR THE ENTIRE FLORIDA KEYS. THESE WARNINGS WILL LIKELY BE LIFTED WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS

AT 1AM CDT THE CENTER OF HURRICANE RITA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 24.2 NORTH... LONGITUDE 83.4 WEST OR ABOUT 110 MILES WEST OF KEY WEST FLORIDA

RITA IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 11 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

RADAR OBSERVATIONS INDICATED RITA HAS BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED AND MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE AT LEAST 125MPH WITH HIGHER GUST. THIS MAKES RITA A STRONG CATEOGRY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR SIMPSON SCALE. RITA SHOULD BECOME A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE LATER THIS MORNING.

ESTIMATED CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 959 MILLIBARS.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE MWHC AT 6AM CDT

FORECASTER/TOM

I agree it looks way stronger then a freaking 110 mph cat2. It looks like a cat4 to me.