Hurricane Elsa reached above the Caribbean Category 1 hurricane, according to some sources even to Category 2 hurricane, but the next development, after the system hit large Caribbean islands, was with direction into a weakening to a Tropical storm Elsa, in the sector between Cuba and Florida.
However, above a warm sea, the system is re-strengthening again and in Florida is already valid Hurricane Watch.
Elsa will be the strongest, with a possible Category 1 hurricane strength along the West Florida coast, where the most powerful impacts of the system are forecasted.
The system will be the strongest in Florida´s, Georgia´s, and South Carolina´s coasts, then it will shift northward, towards densely populated areas.
After Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, the system will be shifting along all US and Canadian East Coast somewhere above southern Greenland or northernmost parts of the Atlantic – in coastal regions remnants of the system should still cause many damages, mainly thanks to heavy rainfall activity and possible flash floods.
Rainfall 2-6 inches in southeasternmost parts of the USA, locally up to 10 inches (50 – 150, locally up to 300 mm) is forecasts, while wind gusts should reach 120 – 150 km/h when the storm hits Florida´s coast.
The system previously hit Antilles, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Cuba, with the result of 3 fatalities across the Caribbean.
Elsa even caused floods in Caracas, Venezuela in previous days and produced 203.2 mm (8 inches) rainfall in Barbados and 256 mm (10 inches) near Havana, Cuba. It was the first hurricane to impact Barbados in 66 years, the previous being Hurricane Janet in 1955.
The first reports from impacts of Hurricane Elsa from the USA will be known already in the next hours and days.
