Tropical Storm Elsa to be in the Caribbean this weekend, forecasts say
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has issued warnings to a number of Caribbean islands as a new storm approaches the region.
In a tweet, the weather agency has announced that tropical storm warnings are now in effect for Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
11 AM AST Thu, Jul 1 Tropical Storm #Elsa Key Messages. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. For the latest forecast updates, visit: https://t.co/905zOAYiId pic.twitter.com/zzXv0mMOLI
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 1, 2021
As of Thursday morning, the NHC has monitored the tropical storm more than 700 miles east of the Windward Islands. Elsa is quickly moving westward at 25 mph. With this speed, it is expected to reach the Windward and southern Leeward Islands by Friday.
Throughout the following week, the NHC also warned of a risk of wind and rainfall impacts in parts of Cuba, the Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas. Meanwhile, a menacing storm surge could occur in parts of Florida Keys and portions of the southern Florida Peninsula.
An “active” hurricane season
The Weather Channel has alerted residents of the Caribbean as well as Florida to track the progress of Elsa closely through the weekend.
The storm may change course, and there are a number of factors on why this could happen. Elsa’s “land interaction” may weaken the weather system. This could “disrupt Elsa enough and prevent it from staying intact past the Caribbean.”
“Another large uncertainty is when and how sharp the system is expected to make a northwestward turn later this weekend and early next week,” The Weather Channel said.
Bloomberg reported that Tropical Storm Elsa would be the first storm that between the Caribbean and Africa and this is significant because “storms taking shape there before August often means that the hurricane season as a whole will be quite active,” citing Phil Klotzbach, who is the lead author of the Colorado State University seasonal hurricane forecast.