For what it's worth....Rita is moving NW. I just put a ruler on my monitor for about 3 hours worth of loopage and she's clearly on about a 305degree heading. What makes this intrguing is two fold:

a) this much polarward component at this stage in the game is troublesome... In one school, Rita simply can't move much further east of SW Louisiana when considering synoptics; in the other school, that isn't true... It is possible because the synoptics as modeled could simply be in smaller or larger error. Purely imaginatively, suppose the models are about 20 to 30 meters too deep with the heights in the ridge as it is slipping east?? That would certainly assist in drawning Rita more north. The stakes are very high for storm weary denizens east of the Louisiana/Texas boarder. Lord knows there is no room or tolerance for weather phenomenon in that area, but as nature is constantly reminding us, "Lord" is a human invention. Thankfully, Rita could strike with a "little" room to spare.

b) ...Something has just occurred to me that I haven't read from any agencies or forums regarding Rita's track guidance:
1) We are still in essentially the same overall synoptic pattern as what took place prior to and during
the evolution of Katrina.
2) That is important to me because Katrina was modeled initially far left of where she ultimately came
on board (by as much as 200 miles depending on your tool), as little as 3 days prior to landfall.
3) Thus, "1)" becomes immensely important then because if the synoptics are causing issues with model
guidance, the model guidance may not be as trustable as in other scenarios.. Trends in accurracy are
very, very important in forecasting.

We'll just have to wait and see here for the next couple hours (would like this to last for 6 if that is ok) before consigning to a western Louisiana strike. But, from where I'm sitting, this 305 motion is not wobbles - it's down right linear! Thing is, if she stayed at 305 dgs for the remainder of her trek she would come in N of Galveston Bay's inlet on the upper Texas Coast. But, the acquiring of polarward component so early makes one weary that she's got be curving sooner.