Elsa weakened to a tropical storm as of early Wednesday and is projected to hit Florida’s northern Gulf Coast later in the morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The weather service said in its 2 a.m. EDT advisory that heavy rains and gusty winds continue to spread inland across southwest and west-central Florida. As of the time of the advisory at 2 a.m. Wednesday, tropical storm Elsa was 60 miles (95 km) west of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (115 km/h), and was moving north at 14 mph (22 km/h), according to the NHC. “Elsa is forecast to make landfall along the north Florida Gulf coast by late Wednesday morning and then move across the southeastern United States through Thursday,” the NHC said. Gov. Ron DeSantis previously said that forecasts called for Elsa to come ashore sometime between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. A hurricane warning is in effect …