Tropical Storm Elsa heads for Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and Florida. Storm watch in the Keys
For the latest updates, click here to read Sunday’s story.
Hurricane Elsa lost wind speed Saturday morning, dropping to Tropical Storm Elsa and staying there as Haiti and the Dominican Republic prepared for impact and the Florida Keys went under tropical storm watch from Craig Key to the Dry Tortugas.
Into the night, Elsa was continuing to weaken and moving slower.
As of the 11 p.m. advisory, the National Hurricane Center said Elsa had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, slightly slower than the 70 mph winds it had throughout the day. Elsa was moving west northwest at 17 mph, about 175 miles southeast of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and about 205 miles southeast of Cabo Cruz.
Tropical storm level winds extended 125 miles from the center.
“An additional decrease in forward speed is expected tonight and on Sunday, followed by a turn toward the northwest Sunday night or Monday,” the hurricane center’s advisory said. “On the forecast track, Elsa will move near the southwestern peninsula of Haiti over the next few hours, and then move near Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba on Sunday.”
“By Monday, Elsa is expected to move across central and western Cuba and head toward the Florida Straits,” the advisory continued. “Little change in strength is forecast through Sunday, but gradual weakening is forecast on Sunday night and Monday when Elsa is expected to be near or over Cuba.”
The current conical tracking projects Elsa bumping South Florida sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The Florida Keys remain in the projected path while there’s less of Miami-Dade County than the 8 a.m. advisory’s projected path.
Hurricane Elsa and Surfside’s Champlain Towers South
It’s unclear exactly how strong Elsa, or the edges of it, would have to be to topple the remaining tower standing in Surfside after the Champlain Towers South condominium building collapsed last week, but officials are worried it could happen. They’ve also said that strong winds or other conditions could delay the continued search through the rubble for more than a hundred missing souls.
On Saturday morning, officials announced that the upright portion of the doomed Champlain Towers South building will be demolished within days to allow rescue crews to eventually resume searching the site safely.
“This will protect our search and rescue teams. We don’t know when it could fall over,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference on Saturday. “With these gusts, that would create a real severe hazard.”
What will determine how hard Elsa hits Florida?
Forecasters said Elsa’s future path depends on whether the storm is able to maintain its speed or if it is slowed down by wind shear or unfavorable winds.
The westward path is set to take Elsa over Cuba on Sunday. Its path toward Florida depends, in part, on how many mountains the storm runs over. Its latest projected track takes it across southwestern Haiti and southwestern Cuba, both highly mountainous areas.
“A track that even just clips those regions ... could be highly disruptive to a circulation, particularly a small one,” tweeted Andy Hazelton, an assistant scientist with the University of Miami and NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division.
Warnings and watches
Cuba has issued a tropical storm warning for the provinces of Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara, and Cienfuegos, and a tropical storm watch for the provinces of Mayabeque and Havana. Camaguey, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas, and Santiago de Cuba remain on a hurricane watch.
The portion of Haiti from Port-au-Prince to the southern border with the Dominican Republic is under a tropical storm warning.
The tropical storm warning for Haiti north of Port-au-Prince has been discontinued, as well as the warnings and watches for the Dominican Republic.
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman also are on a tropical storm watch.
This story was originally published July 3, 2021 at 8:13 AM with the headline "Tropical Storm Elsa heads for Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and Florida. Storm watch in the Keys."
