Tropical Storm Elsa Bringing Heavy Rain, Wind To MA

Parts of Massachusetts are bracing for a very wet nudge from Tropical Storm Elsa over the next 36 hours, adding more rain to what has already been a drenched July.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday issued a tropical storm watch for the entire Bay State coastline, the Cape and Islands, and south of Boston as it became apparent Elsa would stick closer to the coast than initially expected. Waters offshore are under a tropical storm warning.

Elsa is traveling up past Georgia and the Carolinas Thursday, eyeing southern New England as early as Friday morning.

The storm isn't expected to hang around for very long — it'll be out of here by Friday evening — but it could do some damage in the short time it stays. Forecasters are warning of the possibility of several inches of rain and wind gusts as high as 60 mph.

"Tropical Storm Elsa is expected to bring heavy rain, strong wind gusts and big ocean waves tonight into Friday afternoon," NBC10 Boston meteorologist Aaron Perry told Patch in an email. "Cape Cod and the Islands will likely see tropical storm-force wind gusts of up to 55/60 MPH tomorrow morning."

Perry said even slight shifts in the storm trajectory could bring gusty winds north of Boston.

There is a fear of localized flooding if Elsa drops a lot of rain on top of what has already been a very wet July.

Eversource is telling customers to be wary of potential outages, saying it will have extra staff on hand.

"We are watching the weather forecasts, holding planning meetings, and preparing accordingly – positioning equipment and crews so we’re ready to respond and quickly restore power for our customers," Eversource Electric Operations VP Doug Foley in a statement. "Our people are ready and will work around the clock, if needed, to restore power as quickly and safely as possible."

Elsa was briefly a hurricane Tuesday night but weakened back to a tropical storm Wednesday morning. The Associated Press reported the storm killed at least one person in Florida and injured 10 others at a Georgia Navy base when a possible tornado formed.