I expect that we'll be seeing Greek alphabet names within a couple weeks--there are only four names left.

All of the computer models show Rita heading through the Florida Straights, which means just some wind and rain for Palm Beach County, but we'll keep an eye out and be ready to shutter anyway. I haven't seen anything to indicate that this thing has much chance of hitting New Orleans, though--all of the tracks show it heading farther south, down near the Mexico/Texas border. It might hit Texas, or even western Louisiana, but eastern Louisiana looks pretty unlikely to me.

I'll sure be glad when this hurricane season is over.

[Update at noon eastern]

Just got our first heavy shower from the outer bands.

It does look like its going to hit Texas, but it's basically a crap shoot with a hurricane. It pretty much goes where it goes.

New Orleans is within the error cone, so it would be wrong to rule out a hit there. Even this morning the model tracks were shifting to the right, increasing the probability.

It's not within Accuweather's. They still show the farthest east path as west of New Orleans (only the western half of the state is within it).

Go to the national hurricane center site; the 11am five-day forecast contains NO.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at3+shtml/153924.shtml?5day
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT3+shtml/191507.shtml

The latter also has this comment:

ADDITIONALLY...MOST OF THE MODELS HAVE SHIFTED FARTHER NORTH LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO...DUE TO A WEAKENING RIDGE AS A TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WESTERN UNITED STATES IN SEVERAL DAYS. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST IS ADJUSTED TO THE NORTH OR RIGHT OVER THE GULF...BUT NOT AS FAR AS THE MODEL CONSENSUS.

Hmmm...that revised NOAA track also shows it going right over Key West in the center instead of farther south over the straights, and the northern part of it is closer to me than I'd hoped this morning. The hurricane warning ends just south of us now. It still looks like it won't be any worse than Katrina, though, and we came through that fine (though I wasn't here--I was up in DC).