Rita could loop back to Gulf

[Spirit of Me]

There is a real concern that Rita could drop southeast toward the Gulf of Mexico next week. A cold front could strip Rita of much of her moisture, but leave the storm center behind. If this were to happen, then the steering winds in the upper atmosphere could carry the ghost of Rita back toward the warm waters in the Gulf. While Rita will have lost much of her punch, it is not out of the realm of possibility that she could re-intensify into a tropical storm. Remember, a similar scenario played out last year when Ivan's moisture was striped off and carried into the Northeast, while the ghost of Ivan looped around and headed back into the Gulf of Mexico, where he re-developed into a tropical storm.