Where’s Tropical Storm Elsa, and where could it go? Here’s what the forecast track shows
UPDATE: This story will not be updated after Saturday. The most recent information on tropical storm Elsa’s path and forecast can be found here.
Tropical Storm Elsa was expected to drench parts of the Caribbean starting Saturday as South Florida braced for potential impacts early next week.
The weather service has urged people in the region to review their storm preparation plans as a tropical storm watch has been issued for the Florida Keys from Craig Key to the Dry Tortugas.
Here’s what we know about the current location of the storm, which has been downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane, and where it could be heading next.
In an 8 p.m. update, forecasters said Elsa was roughly 140 miles east of Kingston, Jamaica, and 40 miles southwest of Tiburon, Haiti.
Elsa packed 70 mph maximum sustained winds as it moved toward the west-northwest at 23 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm could bring “near-hurricane conditions and dangerous storm surge” to southern Haiti on Saturday. The Dominican Republic cancelled the tropical storm watch and warning Saturday evening.
Tropical Storm conditions “are expected on Jamaica and over eastern and central Cuba on Sunday,” forecasters said. “Tropical storm conditions are possible in the watch area in the Cayman Islands Sunday and Sunday night and in western Cuba and the Florida Keys Sunday night and Monday.”
Elsa was expected to slow further Saturday night and Sunday, followed by a turn to the northwest, forecasters said.
“Gradual weakening is forecast on Sunday and Monday when Elsa is expected to be near or over Cuba,” the National Hurricane Center said.
Several models show the track will then head toward the U.S. mainland, and impacts could be felt as early as Sunday night in the Florida Keys. Parts of South Florida could see flooding and “a few tornadoes,” among other conditions, forecasters wrote as of 11 a.m. Saturday.
By Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service’s Miami office said: “While there is a risk of wind, surge, tornado, & rain impacts across south Florida, it’s too early to determine specifics.”
Elsa could pass near or over part of Florida’s west coast on Tuesday, the weather service said.
Georgia and the Carolinas could also be affected, according to forecasters.
This story was originally published July 3, 2021 at 10:49 AM.
