Emailer J Thompson informs me that the water is getting cooler in the Gulf near shore south of Galveston where he lives. If this represents a cooler ocean a hundred or more miles out into the Gulf then Rita will weaken before it hits shore. From his PC to God's ears....

6AM ADD: ...POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC CATEGORY FIVE RITA OVER THE CENTRAL GULF
OF MEXICO...SLIGHT WEAKENING IS ANTICIPATED TODAY. Now possibly a three when it hits.