Elsa Weakens to a Tropical Storm: National Hurricane Center

A man holds his bicycle at Bay Vista Park, as Elsa strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane hours before an expected landfall on Florida's northern Gulf Coast, in St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 6, 2021. Octavio Jones/Reuters

Elsa weakened to a tropical storm as of early Wednesday and is projected to hit Florida’s northern Gulf Coast later in the morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The weather service said in its 2 a.m. EDT advisory that heavy rains and gusty winds continue to spread inland across southwest and west-central Florida.