Grace weakens from tropical storm to disturbance

Aug. 19 (UPI) -- After rapidly weakening on Saturday as it made its second landfall in Mexico, Tropical Storm Grace has been downgraded by the National Hurricane Center from a tropical storm to a disturbance.

In its 5 p.m. CDT update, the National Hurricane Center said the remnants of Grace were about 65 miles northwest of Mexico City. Grace is expected to continue moving west at about 13 mph tonight.

"Although Grace has dissipated, its remnants will likely move into the eastern North Pacific by Sunday afternoon, where it is likely to develop into a new tropical cyclone next week," the agency said in its update, which is the last that will be issued on Grace.

The remnants of Grace could possibly produce 1 to 3 inches of rain with some parts of central Mexico, including Mexico City, seeing up to 5 inches tonight.

"The lingering heavy rainfall may lead to additional areas of flash and urban flooding, along with mudslides, through tonight," the agency said.

Grace made its second landfall in Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane early Saturday, bringing 125 mph winds to the coast before weakening to a tropical storm.

Grace made landfall earlier in the week on the Yucatan Peninsula as a hurricane and weakened to a tropical storm as land slowed down its wind speeds. It gained strength again when it passed back into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"Through the weekend, heavy rainfall across Veracruz, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Queretaro and eastern San Luis Potosi will lead to significant flash and urban flooding, along with the likelihood of mudslides," the NHC said.

Grace follows five other named storms in the Atlantic basin so far this year -- Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Elsa and Fred. Of those five, Elsa was the only one to gain hurricane strength.