[ken5050]

I'm getting more and more annoyued at the media's collective "rooting" for Rita to be as bad as possible..Every time it's downgraded, you can hear the "disappointment" in their voices..every time it get upgraded back to a 5..they get so exicted..It is despicable....

[milagro]

Well- we know they aren't real keen on any good news--especially Good News!

[Patriot from Philly]

What's even worse is how they root for high death counts both in Iraq and in the hurricanes. They are truly despicable people. If the media wants a high death count maybe these could find a hotel near the beach where the next Cat 4-5 hurricane will make landfall.

[steveegg]

On my way off the thread, I found a new Data Vortex Message from NOAA3 (looks like the 2 NOAA planes are pairing up) - this eye fix is at 12:46 pm -

353 
URNT12 KNHC 231805Z
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE
A. 23/1746Z
B. 27 DEG 45 MIN N
   92 DEG 15 MIN W
C. 700 MB 2489 MA
D. NA
E. NA
F. 146 DEG 129 KT
G. 051 DEG 19 NM
H. 930 MB
I. 12 C/ 3064 M
J. 19 C/ 3041 M
K. 14 C/ NA
L. OPEN SE
M. C20
N. 12345/7
O. 1/1 NM
P. NOAA3 2318A RITA OB 04
   MAX FL WIND 129 KT NE QUAD 1741Z
   EYE OPEN NE THRU SE

Items of note (I hesitate to call this a comparison between this and NOAA2's noon eye fix) -

- Movement 7 degrees north, 7 degrees west
- Eye 20 nm in diameter (NOAA2 found it at 30)
- Max flight-level wind at 129 knots in the NE quad (NOAA2 came in from almost due east and found 124-knot winds)