Elsa is now a Category 1 Hurricane as of Friday morning, as it races toward the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which are still struggling to recover from recent volcanic eruptions.
As of 8:30 a.m., Elsa was 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Barbados, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 KPH), with higher gusts. Hurricane-force winds extend out from the center for 25 miles (35 kilometers).
The hurricane is moving toward the west-northwest at 28 mph (44 kph) and this motion is expected to last for the next couple of days.
Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and the Grenadines have all issued hurricane warnings. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Martinique, the southern coast of the Dominican Republic, and all of Haiti.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for Grenada and its dependencies, Saba and Saint Eustatius, and Jamaica.
CBS News is reporting that Elsa is the earliest fifth-named storm on record, beating out last year’s Eduardo which formed on July 6, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Klotbach said early Friday that Elsa is “the farthest east that a hurricane has formed this early in the calendar year in the tropical Atlantic” since 1933.
On the forecast track, Elsa is expected to move into the eastern Caribbean Sea late Friday and Friday night, and pass near the southern coast of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, on Saturday.
By Sunday, Elsa is expected to move near Jamaica and portions of eastern Cuba. Elsa is expected to bring 3 to 6 inches of rainfall Friday to Windward and southern Leeward Islands, with locally up to 10 inches.
Puerto Rico could see 1 to 3 inches through Saturday. Flash flooding and mudslides will be possible in areas experiencing heavy rainfall.
“Across portions of southern Hispaniola and Jamaica, rainfall of 4 to 8 inches with isolated maximum amounts of 12 inches is possible Saturday into Sunday. This rain may lead to scattered flash flooding and mudslides,” according to the hurricane center.
“It is too soon to determine what, if any, impacts could occur there next week given the uncertainty in the long-range forecast,” the hurricane center said. How strong Elsa will be next week is also highly uncertain due to the possibility of land interaction and disagreements among the weather models.
