Hurricane Rafael was downgraded to a tropical storm as it continued westward in the Gulf of Mexico posing no threat to land for now while the National Hurricane Center kept track of another system with low odds to develop into the next tropical depression or storm.

The storm Rafael rapidly weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm late on Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. Rafael was located about 460 miles (740 km) east of the mouth of the Rio Grande with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kmh),