Good morning. Elsa was upgraded to a hurricane early Tuesday Night but then was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm. The system is coming ashore now (10:45am Wednesday) just North of Steinhatchee Florida.
Over the next 24 hours Elsa will be picked up by an approaching trough that is diving into the East Coast which will accelerate the system’s movement to the north-northeast. This put’s Elsa’s closest approach to our area Thursday Morning. Tonight bands of showers and storms will wrap into the foothills and mountains of Western North Carolina. It looks like the first of the showers and storms should arrive after 8:00 tonight.
Scattered showers and maybe a thunderstorm will be possible throughout the night. As state, Elsa should pass off to our south and east along, or just east of I-77. The heaviest rain will follow the center of circulation. Elsa is now forecast to remain a tropical depression on it’s trek northeast through North Carolina. While winds will be breezy here in the foothills and piedmont, the highest winds will be well east of the center of circulation. Tropical Storm Watches and Warnings are up along the NC Coast and and one row of counties inland.
So all in all just some beneficial rain tonight and Thursday as Elsa skirts by the area. Rainfall totals will likely be anywhere from .50 to 1.25 inches, with those higher totals in that scale occurring in Catawba and Lincoln Counties. There could be a thin ribbon of enhanced rainfall along the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge as well, but all rainfall in our area should remain under flash flood thresholds.
