Hurricane Rita & Trailing Troublemakers

At 8:15 a.m. CDT Rita was officially declared a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. After crossing the Florida Keys later today, consensus forecasts still are calling for a terminal landfall somewhere between Galveston, Tex., and near Lake Charles, La.

The NHC currently pegs the probability of Rita coming within 65 nautical miles of Pensacola at only 7 5 percent. However, past experience suggests the possibility that significant changes in the storm's path can occur after it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

The NHC is keeping an eye on two other potential trouble spots behind Rita which are coming into the picture: "An upper low in the west-central Atlantic" and another one "centered just southeast of the Azores."