Newsdeck

World

Tropical Storm Elsa Will Likely Strike Florida as a Hurricane

epa08565326 A handout satellite image made available by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Douglas heading towards Hawaii, USA, 25 July 2020. This satellite image has been acquired using multispectral IR at night. Hurricane Douglas has moved over slightly cooler water and is slowly weakening as it encounters drier air. According to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC), Douglas will likely downgrade to a category 1 hurricane or strong tropical storm as it approaches the Hawaiian Islands. EPA-EFE/NOAA HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Tropical Storm Elsa is strengthening as it nears Florida’s Gulf coast and is expected to make landfall as a hurricane Wednesday north of Tampa.

By Brian K. Sullivan

Word Count: 323
(Bloomberg) — 

Elsa’s top winds reached 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour Tuesday and will likely hit 75 mph, just above the threshold to become a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said in a 2 p.m. EDT advisory. A hurricane warning has been posted from Egmont Key to the Steinhatchee River and a storm surge warning has been issued along the coast including Tampa Bay.

“Hurricane conditions are expected tonight and early Wednesday along a portion of the west coast of Florida,” Richard Pasch a forecaster at the center, wrote in his outlook. “As Elsa moves near or along the western Florida Peninsula through Wednesday, heavy rainfall may result in isolated flash, urban and minor river flooding.”

Elsa is the fifth Atlantic storm this year and briefly became the season’s first hurricane as it moved through the Caribbean last week, killing at least three people. It will also be the third named storm to hit the U.S. this year. While meteorologists don’t expect the tally of Atlantic storms in 2021 to reach last year’s record of 30, they’re predicting a more active hurricane season than normal.

Elsa, which is too far east to disrupt oil and natural-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, could raise ocean levels by up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) along parts of Florida’s coast. It will also bring as much as 8 inches of rain across the Florida Keys and 6 inches across the rest of the state. From there Elsa will move across Georgia and the Carolinas, bringing heavy rain as it weakens.

The storm will likely re-enter the Atlantic south of New Jersey, gaining strength as it sweeps past New England and into the Canadian Maritimes by the weekend.

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.