Hurricane Elsa keeps Category 1 intensity with maximum sustained wind of 80 mph

Published: Updated:

As of the Friday 11 p.m. advisory, Hurricane Elsa maintains its Category 1 hurricane status with maximum sustained wind of 80 mph. The storm continues to race to the west-northwest at 29 mph.

Elsa is currently located approximately 730 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. The storm is expected to trek just south of Hispaniola on Saturday.

A hurricane warning is in place for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque to the Haiti border, the southern portion of Haiti from Port Au Prince to the southern border of the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. A hurricane watch is in place for the Cuban provinces of Camaguey, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas, and Santiago de Cuba.

A tropical warning is in place for the coast of Haiti north of Port Au Prince, the south coast of the Dominican Republic east of Punta Palenque to Cabo Engano. A tropical storm watch is in place for the north coast of the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to Bahia de Manzanillo, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

Models and the National Hurricane Center track have shifted slightly over the past 24 hours, but there have not been any significant changes. Southwest Florida remains in the forecast cone, yet we know a lot can change between now and then.

We are getting better model data due to the Hurricane Hunters, and we’ll be looking for consistency between them over the next few days. The Weather Authority expects to have a better handle on the storm by Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Although Elsa will not impact your holiday weekend, we encourage everyone to stay weather aware and monitor WINK updates closely.

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