Soaking rains and gusty winds will impact Florida and the U.S. Southeast as Tropical Storm Elsa approaches the Sunshine State. With Elsa approaching, a variety of warnings and watches are in effect.
Right now, there’s a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Cuban provinces of Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus,
Cienfuegos, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Mayabeque, Havana, and Artemisa, the Florida Keys from Craig Key westward to the Dry Tortugas, and the west coast of Florida from Flamingo northward to the Suwannee River. A Storm Surge Watch is in effect for Florida’s west coast from Bonita Beach to the Ochlockonee River. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Florida Keys from east of Craig Key to Ocean Reef, including Florida Bay, and for the coast north of the Suwannee River to Indian Pass, Florida. A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area.
A Storm Surge Watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, in the indicated locations during the next 48 hours. A Tropical Storm Watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida, responsible for issuing tropical storm and hurricane related advisories in the U.S., says that interests in coastal Georgia and the Carolinas should monitor the progress of Elsa. “Additional watches and warnings will likely be required later today,” they cautioned in their latest advisory update.
The latest forecast track from the NHC has Elsa lashing the west coast of Florida starting later tonight into tomorrow, with a landfall likely north of Tampa on Wednesday morning. The storm system is expected to weaken into a tropical depression as it moves through Georgia and the Carolinas. As it exits the Mid Atlantic Coast, Elsa is expected to re-intensify back into a tropical storm as it passes by the Jersey Shore. From there, it’ll move north and east parallel to the New England Coastline before possibly impacting Nova Scotia in Canada by Saturday morning.
