At 200 PM EDT (1800 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Elsa was located near latitude 30.3 North, longitude 83.5 West. Elsa is moving toward the north near 14 mph (22 km/h). A turn toward the north-northeast is expected this evening, followed by a faster northeastward motion by late Thursday. On the forecast track, Elsa will move over Georgia tonight, over South Carolina early on Thursday, over North Carolina later on Thursday, and move near or over the mid-Atlantic coast on Friday.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Continued weakening is expected through tomorrow as Elsa moves over land.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center.

Columbia area to potentially see more impacts from Elsa

Wednesday 3PM TS Elsa Update:
More confidence in the potential for a few tornadoes, mainly east of I-20. Heavy rainfall is still the biggest threat with up to 3 inches possible. Timing for heaviest rain is mainly overnight, but will last into midday Thursday. #TSElsa #scwx #gawx pic.twitter.com/Bn8oJlMu8m

— NWS Columbia (@NWSColumbia) July 7, 2021