Marine Tropical Storm — Chokoloskee To Bonita Beach Fl Out 20nm, Gulf of Mexico

2021-07-06 to 2021-07-07 · Chokoloskee To Bonita Beach Fl Out 20nm, Gulf of Mexico

Event narrative

Sustained tropical storm force winds of near 40 knots likely occurred over the near-shore Gulf waters based on data from hurricane hunter aircraft, with gusts possibly as high as 50 knots. A recorded peak wind gust of 47 mph/41 knots was measured by the mesonet (MRCSC) at Marco Island at 3:22 PM EDT in association with a strong outer rain band emanating from TS Elsa on July 6th.

Wider weather episode

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 the South Florida Gulf Coast was 1012.4 mb at Naples Municipal Airport and maximum sustained winds of 25 mph/22 knots at Marco Island Airport on July 6th. Estimated Tropical Storm force wind gusts were measured across the Gulf waters ranging from 40 to 50 mph, with higher gusts.

Although the effects from Tropical Storm Elsa were generally minor for wind, there were Tropical Storm force wind gusts and sustained Tropical Depression force winds over the Gulf waters, which created hazardous marine conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 975112. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.