HAVANA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd July, 2021) Hurricane Elsa with maximum sustained winds of 130 kilometers per hour (80.8 mph) is approaching the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, the Cuban Institute of Meteorology (Insmet) reported on Saturday.
"At midnight, the hurricane's center was... in the waters of the eastern Caribbean Sea about 520 kilometers southeast of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, and about 1,130 kilometers southeast of Kingston, Jamaica," the Insmet said at 00:05 local time (04:05 GMT).
Hurricane Elsa, which belongs to category one on the Saffir-Simpson scale, weakened slightly on Friday night. In the next 12 to 24 hours, it will maintain its course, with the possibility of gaining intensity again this Saturday afternoon and continuing to move during the early morning through the seas to the south of Puerto Rico.
On May 20, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its 2021 Atlantic hurricane season outlook predicting a 60% chance of an above-normal season between June and November, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season.
