Hurricane Elsa Update

Fast-moving Elsa has been upgraded to a category 1 Hurricane. This makes the first hurricane for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. There are current hurricane warnings are for Barbados, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, and St. Lucia. There are tropical storm warnings in place for portions of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Windward Islands. Also, hurricane and tropical storm watches are in place as well.

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The talk about Elsa is how fast the system is moving? This hurricane is moving westward at 28 miles per hour. This means the current tracking takes Elsa to the central and western Caribbean over the weekend. This places Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico into the forecasted path. However, Elsa’s interaction over land could cause some shift in its strength and projected track. This truly will be something we will have to monitor for developments over the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center gives us more insight into the system because “there is a risk of storm surge, wind, and rainfall impacts in the Florida Keys and portions of the Florida Peninsula early next week. However, the forecast uncertainty remains larger than usual due to Elsa's potential interaction with the Greater Antilles this weekend. Interests in Florida should monitor Elsa's progress and updates to the forecast.”

James Spann, ABC 33/40, and Townsquare Media Tuscaloosa Chief Meteorologist noted that “while it certainly looks like the Florida peninsula will be impacted by Elsa, you simply can't define those impacts this far out. Odds are increasing that Alabama and the Central Gulf Coast (Gulf Shores, Pensacola, Destin, Panama City Beach) will be on the "good" west side of the system.”

This is a developing weather situation, and we are prepared to monitor this system closely.

(Source) Click here to follow the Facebook page for the National Hurricane Center. Click here to follow the Facebook page for James Spann.

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