ELSA BECOMES A HURRICANE HOURS BEFORE LANDFALL IN FLORIDA PENINSULA… Elsa has regained hurricane status with maximum sustained winds of at least 75 mph on this Tuesday evening. A U.S. Air Force Reconnaissance Aircraft crew is en route to investigate the newly-upgraded hurricane. A Hurricane Warning continues from Egmont Key to the Steinhatchee River, Florida, including the Tampa Bay area and points north of there. This rural stretch of Florida coastline is where the center of Hurricane Elsa is expected to make landfall tonight or tomorrow morning.
NO MAJOR ELSA IMPACTS LOCALLY; DANGER OF RIP CURRENTS CONTINUES… No significant local impacts are expected due to Hurricane Elsa in south Alabama or northwest Florida or really any part of the Florida Panhandle in areas west of the Apalachicola River. Rip currents will continue to be a concern at all of our local Alabama and northwest Florida beaches through at least Friday.
SCATTERED STORMS LIKELY AGAIN TOMORROW… Another round of rain and thunderstorms will happen on Wednesday across our area, not because of Hurricane Elsa, but rather because of a very moist atmosphere ahead of an upper-level trough situated to our west. Rain chances will fade somewhat as we go into Friday and Saturday, although a few, more isolated, storms are expected this weekend. High temperatures will creep into the upper-80s tomorrow.
APP… If you haven’t already downloaded the RedZone Weather app, now is a great time to do that. redzoneweather.com/app is the link to the free download. Once you have the RZW app installed on your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab to turn on the specific notifications you’d like to receive. All notifications are handcrafted by me. No automation and we promise not to bug you!
I will have your next full forecast video posted by 7:15AM tomorrow morning. Have a nice Tuesday evening!