Elsa Becomes First Hurricane of the Season

Hurricane Elsa strengthened significantly Friday morning, becoming the first hurricane of the 2021 season.

It is the third storm of the season to threaten the US coastline, potentially nearing the Florida Peninsula by next week, including around the site of the deadly Surfside condo collapse.

Elsa’s sustained winds late Friday morning were whipping at 75 mph, with gusts up to 90 mph, the National Hurricane Center said at 11 a.m. ET.

The Category 1 storm was racing west-northwest at 29 miles per hour, about five miles north of St. Vincent. It is expected to strengthen a little more in the next 36 hours, the hurricane center said.

Hurricane warnings are in place for St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the southern portion of Haiti from Port Au Prince to the southern border with the Dominican Republic.