Grace weakens to a tropical storm but is expected to hit Mexico again as a hurricane

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/weather/hurricane-grace-mexico-thursday/index.html

Grace weakens to a tropical storm but is expected to hit Mexico again as a hurricane

By Michael Guy, Travis Caldwell, Taylor Ward and Mallika Kallingal, CNN

Updated 7:15 PM ET, Thu August 19, 2021

Tropical Storm Grace brings heavy rain and strong winds to the Yucatan Peninsula 01:15

(CNN)Grace plowed through the Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday and weakened to a tropical storm but is expected to regain hurricane strength as it approaches the Gulf coast of Mexico, said the National Hurricane Center.

That second landfall is forecast Friday evening or Saturday morning along the Mexican coast west of the Yucatan Peninsula. The storm will stay well south of Texas, so little if any impacts are expected to the US mainland.

A new hurricane warning has been issued along the Mexican mainland coast from Puerto Veracruz to Cabo Rojo. Late Thursday afternoon, the storm was 50 miles northeast of Campeche, with winds of 50 mph.

The eastern coast of the Yucatán, including Cancun, Cozumel and Punta Herrero, has been under a hurricane warning since Tuesday due to Grace becoming better organized as it moved west, battering Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Meanwhile, heavy rain is expected through Friday over north-central portions of the Yucatan Peninsula and will likely result in areas of flash and urban flooding.

And in central to northern Veracruz, northern Puebla and into Hidalgo, 6 to 12 inches of rain -- with a maximum of 18 inches -- is expected from Friday through Sunday. It may result in flash and urban flooding, and could also produce mudslides.

A dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels along the coast of mainland Mexico around the area where the center will make landfall by early Saturday. And large and destructive waves are expected along with the surge.