Here Comes Rita

Oh boy. Texas is about to get visited by that famous meter maid, Rita. Sure, she's lovely but she's also mean and mad. Many people don't realize that Houston is the 4th largest metropolitan area in the country. Right now the highways are jammed with people getting out of Houston and going, well, anywhere.

I was getting my car looked at (yes, again - the engine light was on) yesterday and my service manager told me that there were people looking for rental cars but the none available. Also, apparently, hotel's throughout the state of Texas are booked pretty solid as a result of Katrina victim's and evacuee's from Rita.

I haven't seen any real visible effects of what I'm sure is more people in Dallas right now. But we'll see. Rita is supposed to come through here Saturday night/Sunday morning. Here's the current Dallas weather:

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 71. Northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Cloudy, with a high near 82. Northeast wind between 10 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 72. Windy, with a north northeast wind 25 to 30 mph increasing to between 40 and 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Sunday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before noon. Cloudy, with a high around 83. Windy, with a north northwest wind between 40 and 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 71. Windy, with a west northwest wind 35 to 40 mph decreasing to between 25 and 30 mph.

Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high around 88. Windy, with a north northwest wind 20 to 25 mph decreasing to between 10 and 15 mph.