Tropical Storm Elsa with little change in the last hours

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 5 (ACN) Clouds and rains associated with tropical storm Elsa cover a large part of Cuba, with the most active areas in rains and some thunderstorms affecting from Matanzas and the Isle of Youth to the province of Granma.

At three o'clock in the morning, the center of tropical storm Elsa was estimated at 20.9 degrees north latitude and 79.8 degrees west longitude, about 180 kilometers southeast of Playa Giron, Matanzas province and 190 kilometers east-southeast of Cayo Largo del Sur, in the Canarreos archipelago.

Elsa maintains its northwesterly course at 24 kilometers per hour and has gained some more intensity, now has maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour, and its central pressure is 1004 hectoPascal.

In the next 12 to 24 hours, tropical storm Elsa will continue to track northwest, with similar speed of translation, with a slight increase in its intensity before penetrating in the early hours of this morning, at a point on the south central coast, between the city of Cienfuegos and Playa Giron, Matanzas, with a subsequent weakening as it moves inland.

Clouds and rains will continue to affect a large part of the country and gradually extend to the western provinces, being strong and intense in some localities, mainly in mountainous areas.

In the central region, winds will blow with tropical storm force, with speeds between 60 and 75 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour.

Storm surges will persist along the entire southern coast of Cuba, with light coastal flooding from the southern coast of Matanzas to the Gulf of Guacanayabo.