Tropical Storm Elsa Forms; South Florida In Crosshairs Next Week 

Tropical Storm Elsa formed Thursday morning over the Atlantic Basin and is quickly moving toward the Caribbean and possibly South Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Readers may recall this was one of the weather disturbances we kept a close eye on earlier in the week. 

“It is too soon to determine what, if any, impacts could occur there next week given the uncertainty in the long-range forecast,” the NHC said. 

Elsa is about 680 miles east of the Windward Islands as of 1100 ET. Tropical storm warnings have been posted for Barbados, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines. Watches are in effect for Guadeloupe. 

The storm is moving westward at 28 mph with sustained winds of about 45 mph.

By the weekend, the storm is expected to move across Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba. There’s a possibility it may shift direction northwestward into the Gulf of Mexico with a trajectory that could impact South Florida on Monday and or Tuesday.

A lot of uncertainty surrounds Elsa’s path late weekend into next week. If the storm is headed for South Florida, this may further complicate search and rescue efforts at the Champlain Towers South building in Miami.