The storm began affecting Florida late on August 28 and early on August 29. In Key West, on the east side of Elena's strengthening center, wind gusts exceeded , accompanied by of rain and higher-than-normal tides. Several boats washed ashore at Smathers Beach. Similarly adverse conditions occurred throughout rest of the Keys and across the southern Florida Peninsula; 60 mph (100 km/h) wind gusts and modest rainfall stretched as far east as the Miami area. Easterly winds produced significant wave heights of at West Palm Beach and at Jacksonville, along the Atlantic coast of Florida, by August 31.