Hurricane Rita and global warming - A article

Julian Heming of the Met Office in Exeter explains how Hurricane Rita has grown so big and whether these storms are getting more frequent.

Where did Hurricane Rita come from?
The initial stage of formation was just off the north of Puerto Rico last week, where there was a disturbance in the atmosphere resulting in storm cloud formation. This caused a depression which moved west towards the Florida Straits, and built up into a tropical storm and then a hurricane. The conditions in the Gulf of Mexico were just right to speed its development into a Category 5 storm.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,23889-1792386,00.html