At 02:00 local time (06:00 GMT), the storm was about 60 miles west of Tampa and moving slowly north with winds of 70mph (115km/h), the NHC said. Elsa became the first hurricane of the Atlantic season on Friday before weakening to a tropical storm. After leaving Cuba, it briefly regained hurricane force over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, but was then downgraded again as it approached the Florida coast.