Tropical Storm Elsa formed Thursday morning, and Orlando is now within the cone of uncertainty.
According to the 11 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center, Elsa is packing 45 mph winds and is currently located roughly 680 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands moving west at 28 mph.
Forecasters expect the system to pass near the Windward Islands or the southern Leeward Islands on Friday, moving into the Caribbean Sea Friday night.
It’s still too early to predict exactly what impact Elsa will have on Florida, but as of now the tropical storm is forecast to hit Southwest Florida late Monday or early Tuesday morning.
Elsa is now the fifth named storm of the 2021 Hurricane Season. According to the NHC, Elsa’s early arrival sets a new record, making it the earliest fifth named storm for the Atlantic basin. The previous record was held by Edouard on July 6, 2020.
A version of this story originally appeared at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
–
Stay on top of Central Florida news and views with our weekly newsletters, and consider supporting this free publication. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you Central Florida news, and every little bit helps.
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2021.
