מתוך ויקיפדיה באנגלית

Hurricane Elsa
Category 1 hurricane (SSHWS)
Elsa 2021-07-02 1725Z.jpg Elsa 2021 track.png
Duration July 1 – July 9
Peak intensity 85 mph (140 km/h) (1-min) 991 mbar (hPa)
Main article: Hurricane Elsa
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) began to monitor a tropical wave about 800 miles (1,300 km) from Cape Verde at 12:00 UTC on June 29.[80] The wave quickly organized as it moved eastward,[81] and advisories were issued on Potential Tropical Cyclone Five at 21:00 UTC on June 30, though it was noted that scatterometer data found an elongated and ill-defined circulation.[82] It became a tropical depression by 03:00 UTC on July 1 as its satellite appearance continued to gradually improve, with prominent banding features to the west of its center. An advanced scatterometer pass also revealed the system to have been possessing a better-defined, albeit still slightly elongated low-level circulation to its south and west.[83] By 09:00 UTC that same day, the depression further intensified into a tropical storm, and the NHC assigned it the name Elsa. This also made Elsa the earliest fifth-named storm on record, surpassing the previous record held by Tropical Storm Edouard of the previous year, which formed on July 6.[4] Elsa also became a tropical storm farther east in the Main Development Region (MDR) than any other tropical cyclone so early in the calendar year on record, behind only the 1933 Trinidad hurricane.[84][85] Elsa slowly strengthened overnight as it accelerated westward,[4][86] and at 10:45 UTC on July 2, the NHC upgraded Elsa to a Category 1 hurricane.[87] This made Elsa the eastern-most hurricane recorded in the MDR, south of 23.5°N, this early in the calendar year since 1933.[87][88] Around that time, Elsa was moving at a forward speed of 29 mph (47 km/h), making it the fastest-moving Atlantic tropical cyclone recorded undergoing rapid intensification in the deep tropics or the Gulf of Mexico, and also the first storm to undergo rapid intensification in that part of the Atlantic that early in the calendar year since another storm in 1908.[89][90] At 15:00 UTC on July 3, Elsa weakened back into a tropical storm, due to northeasterly wind shear, which was partially due to the storm's rapid forward motion at almost 30 mph (48 km/h).[91] Afterward, Elsa's forward motion significantly slowed down to 14 mph (22 km/h) by the next day, as the storm's center relocated to the east under the region with the strongest convection, while passing just north of Jamaica.[92][93] At 18:00 UTC on July 5, Elsa made landfall on west-central Cuba and weakened slightly.[94] Several hours later, at 02:00 UTC on July 6, Elsa emerged into the Gulf of Mexico and began to restrengthen.[95] At 00:00 UTC on July 7, Elsa restrengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a central pressure of 996 mb (29.4 inHg).[96][97] However, several hours later, wind shear and an entrainment of dry air caused Elsa to weaken back into a tropical storm.[98][99] Elsa contined moving northward, and at 15:00 UTC (8:00 a.m. EDT), Elsa made landfall in Taylor County, Florida.[100][101] The storm weakened after landfall, but remained at minimal tropical storm strength as part of its circulation remained over water.[102] Afterward, Elsa gradually began accelerating northeastward an reintensified, due to baroclinic forcing.[103] Elsa became a post-tropical cyclone at 18:00 UTC on July 9 over eastern Massachusetts.[104]

Tropical cyclone watches were issued for a large area of Greater and Lesser Antilles as much of the East coast of the United States in anticipation of Elsa. As Elsa raced past the rest of the Antilles, it caused extensive damage to the islands. In Barbados, the storm brought down trees, damaged roofs, caused widespread power outages, and caused flash flooding. In the U.S., one person was killed in Florida from a falling tree, and another 17 were injured at a Georgia military base due to an EF2 tornado.[105] At least 5 people were killed by Elsa, including 4 in the Caribbean and 1 in the United States.[106]