Tropical Storm Elsa On Track For North Carolina: Forecast

CHARLOTTE, NC — Tropical Storm Elsa is on track to land in North Carolina late Wednesday, and could dump up to 5 inches of rain in central and eastern regions of the state, forecasters warned Tuesday.

"Tropical Storm Elsa will track across the Florida Straits and along the western Florida coast today before tracking across northern Florida and southern Georgia Wednesday," the National Weather Service said Tuesday morning in a hazardous weather outlook bulletin. "Elsa should track across the eastern Carolinas Wednesday night into Thursday afternoon bringing the potential for heavy rainfall across the far southeastern zones of our forecast area."

The track of the storm could potentially shift further west in the coming days, NWS said.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the storm was located 215 miles south of Tampa, Florida with 60 mph winds, however forecasters cautioned that it would have opportunity to strengthen throughout the day before weakening over land.

Even in a weakened state, the storm could potentially produce tropical storm-like conditions in eastern North Carolina, according to state officials.

"Elsa could bring heavy rain/areas of flash flooding gusty winds, isolated tornadoes, and possible coastal flooding concerns Wednesday night [through] Thursday night," North Carolina Emergency Management said.

"Generally 1-3 inches of rain, with isolated totals up to 5 inches across central and eastern NC Wednesday event - Thursday night could lead to areas of flash flooding," NCEM said. "The location of the heaviest rain will be determined by the eventual track and could shift west or east with any forecast changes."

As of Tuesday morning, no watches or warnings were in effect for the state.