Tropical Storm Elsa to Head into Northeast and New England After Drenching Southeast

Tropical Storm Elsa, which made landfall in Florida yesterday, is dousing the Carolinas and Georgia today and is on track to hit the northeast on Friday.

The National Hurricane Center’s forecast calls for Elsa to move over South Carolina and North Carolina today, pass near the eastern mid-Atlantic states by tonight, and move near or over the northeastern states on Friday and Friday night.

The NHC has extended tropical storm warnings to portions of the mid-Atlantic and New England states.

The center also warned of possible tornadoes in South and North Carolina and Virginia.

Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph with higher gusts. The NHC said some re-strengthening is possible tonight and Friday while the system moves close to the northeastern states. Elsa is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone Friday night or Saturday.

As of 8 a.m., Elsa was about 45 miles of Florence S.C. and 150 miles south of Raleigh, N.C., according to the National Hurricane Center.

Elsa is the fifth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.

Elsa is expected to produce 3 to 5 inches with isolated maximum amounts up to 8 inches of rainfall in South Carolina through Thursday, which may result in limited flash and urban flooding.

Across central and eastern North Carolina into southeastern Virginia and from the mid-Atlantic into New England, from 2 to 4 inches of rain with isolated totals up to 6 inches can be expected on Thursday through Friday, which could result in limited-to-considerable flash and urban flooding, as well as isolated minor river flooding.

The NHC warns a few tornadoes are possible across the eastern Carolinas into southeast Virginia through this afternoon. The threat for a tornado may continue tonight into Friday morning across coastal portions of the mid-Atlantic to southern New England.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm