At 1800 GMT Saturday, all coastal warnings for Mexico had been canceled, according to the US National Weather Service's Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

At that time, "the poorly defined center" of Tropical Storm Erika was located well inland, about 155 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of the Mexican border town of Matamoros.

The tropical storm was moving west-southwest at a speed of 28 kilometers (17 miles) per hour, "with a gradual decrease in forward speed" expected, the NHC said in a statement.

"Erika is expected to dissipate over the high terrain of Mexico in the next 24 hours," the statement read.

Heavy rain can be expected in the storm's path, which could cause flash floods and mudslides, and isolated tornadoes could appear along the mid- and lower Texas coast, the statement warned.

TERRA.WIRE