Hurricane Elsa has been downgraded to Tropical Storm Elsa.
The difference seems to be purely based on sustained maximum wind speed. Anything over 74 mph is considered a hurricane, while a tropical storm is from 39 to 74 mph. From the map above, Elsa became a hurricane somewhere over Barbados, and back to a tropical storm near Haiti/Dominican Republic. The question is will Elsa pick up more energy over the water between Cuba and Florida, and the forecast says she will remain a tropical storm. Good.
Just to be safe, my sister said the soccer tournament organizers decided to compress the schedule to save two days. Instead of returning Thursday, my sister is leaving Tuesday instead. Currently, the storm path has Elsa reaching her location (near Clearwater, Florida) at 8:00 am Wednesday. If she leaves Tuesday, they will miss the brunt of the storm (or hurricane). That also means my house/dog-sitting days will be shortened by two days. Our houses are only 5 minutes apart so it is not a big deal, but it definitely is more convenient staying at your own house.
Life with chronic diseases 