Will Hurricane Elsa Hit Disney World?

As Elsa heads “into the unknown” this week, she’s getting stronger. It’s still unclear if she will hit Central Florida. Here’s what we know.

Hurricane Elsa

Tropical Storm Elsa currently resides in Barbados some 1700 miles from Orlando.

Winds from the storm were measured at over 65 MPH in Barbados, prompting the National Hurricane Center to upgrade her to a Hurricane. This is the first official hurricane of the season, which typically lasts through September.

As she moves, her path could go several ways. There are two generally accepted models for Hurricanes which predict what they will do.

As you can see, wind is slowing down in this model as the storm approaches Florida:

The European model has Elsa fizzling out over the islands, with the Global Forecast System model puts Elsa heading for the FL panhandle.

How to Follow this Storm

Local celebrity meteorologist Denis Phillips has a cult following. I strongly recommend heading to his Facebook page or twitter.

Denis tends to stay pretty calm and not blow things out of proportion, which is a welcome change for viewers and social media followers who tire of the doom and gloom.

He even has a set of rules for viewers to follow about tracking hurricanes, the most important of which is rule number 7: Don’t freak out until HE freaks out.

You may have noticed above that the general thought is don’t freak out, get yourself prepared, and remember that it’s tough to predict these things until about 2-3 days prior to landfall.

Hunkering Down at Disney

Personally, if I were heading to Disney early next week, I would not change my plans. If I were there now, I would not leave.

Disney is famous for hurricane safety and preparation. In fact, many locals who don’t have safe places to stay during a big storm will book rooms at Disney.

Heading to Disney World soon? Worried about the hurricane? Let us know in the comments!