Elsa could bring tropical storm conditions to Carolinas this week. Here’s the latest.
UPDATE: This story will not be updated after Sunday. The most recent information on Tropical Storm Elsa’s path and forecast can be found here.
Tropical Storm Elsa could bring strong winds and heavy rain to the Carolinas later this week.
Elsa, which was downgraded from a hurricane on Saturday, was located 15 miles west of Cabo Cruz, Cuba, and 110 miles south of Camaguey, Cuba, as of 5 p.m. Sunday. It was moving northwest at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
Tropical-storm-force winds, which range from 39 mph to 73 mph, extend up to 90 miles from the storm’s center.
On its current track, there’s a risk of tropical storm conditions — including storm surge and rainfall — along the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday, the National Hurricane Center says.
Tropical-storm-force winds could reach the South Carolina coast as early as Wednesday morning and the North Carolina coast as early as that evening, the forecast shows.
But the forecast remains uncertain Sunday due to the storm’s “potential interaction with Cuba,” the NHC said earlier on Sunday.
The storm’s current track shows it as a tropical depression when it reaches the Georgia and North and South Carolina coasts.
“On the forecast track, Elsa will move near or over eastern Cuba today, and approach central Cuba tonight and early Monday,” the NHC says. “Elsa is expected to move across central and western Cuba and head toward the Florida Straits on Monday and pass near the Florida Keys early Tuesday.”
It’s then expected to move “near or over” parts of the west coast of Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Elsa is expected to strengthen some before it moves over Cuba but is expected to weaken as its center tracks over land. It could then restrengthen as it moves over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.
Local National Weather Service offices along the North and South Carolina coasts say it’s still too early to determine Elsa’s exact impacts. But the NWS’s Wilmington office says that “at a minimum, tropical moisture” could bring “occasionally heavy rain” Wednesday and Thursday and that rip currents could be strong by mid-week.
As of Sunday, there’s a moderate to high risk of rip currents along much of the North Carolina coast and parts of the South Carolina coast. The Wilmington office says strong rip currents associated with Elsa are possible Wednesday through Thursday.
“Remember, it’s never too early to prepare, in case a storm (becomes) stronger than forecast, it’s best not to let your guard down, the National Weather service says.
This story was originally published July 4, 2021 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Elsa could bring tropical storm conditions to Carolinas this week. Here’s the latest.."
