Tropical Depression in Metropolitan Miami-dade, Florida

As TS Elsa moved westward near the FL Straits and then northward once in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, outer rain bands produced maximum sustained winds generally between 25-35 mph. An earlier rain band moved across metro Miami-Dade County, with peak wind gusts of 40 mph/35 knots recorded by the mesonet at UM Health System. Overall wind impacts were minor.

A low pressure system, turned tropical disturbance, moving across the central tropical Atlantic formed into Tropical Storm Elsa on July 1st. Tropical Storm Elsa gradually continued westward over the next few days before turning northwestward and towards the FL peninsula on July 4th and 5th. The center passed well to the west of South FL, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, during the day of July 6th, with a minimum central pressure of 1000 mb and maximum sustained winds of 70 mph. For the most part, as Tropical Storm Elsa continued northward and towards the FL Panhandle, it maintained tropical storm intensity, though briefly achieved weak hurricane status late July 6th before decreasing back to tropical storm intensity early July 7th . Lowest surface pressure recorded over South Florida Atlantic Coast was 1012.4 at Naples Municipal Airport and maximum sustained winds of 37 mph over land at University of Miami Health System on July 6th. Recorded Tropical Storm force wind gusts were measured across South Florida ranging from 39 to 49 mph.

Although the effects from Tropical Storm Elsa were generally minor for wind and rainfall, wind gusts of tropical storm force were measured across coastal/metro locations of Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Collier counties. Rainfall amounts ranged from around 3.0 inches to almost 5 inches across Glades and Collier counties. A peak storm surge of 2.10 feet was observed at Naples Pier.