Tropical Storm Arthur lost some punch Wednesday after making landfall but still had the potential to cause “life-threatening flash flooding,” the National Weather Service said.

Arthur formed off the Gulf Coast of Texas, becoming the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season before being downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone. 

The storm developed near the middle of the Texas coast, less than 50 miles from Port O’Connor, according to the hurricane center.

It was centered about 35 miles northeast of Galveston, Texas, and 85 miles west-southwest of Lake Charles, Texas, late Wednesday night. Arthur was traveling northeast at 9 mph with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, below the 39 mph threshold for classification as a tropical storm. Arthur’s winds were always far below the 74 mph needed for hurricane status.

Forecasters predicted that Arthur’s remnants would move farther inland over southeastern Texas and western Louisiana, “then cross the southeastern United States Thursday through Friday.”

“While additional weakening is expected as the system moves inland, the remnants of Arthur will continue to produce widespread heavy rains across the southeastern United States during the next few days,” the hurricane center said, with “life-threatening flooding” expected to continue in parts of the region. 

Arthur started developing earlier this week as a tropical disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico. It emerged and strengthened as coastal communities in the path of the storm contended with ongoing bouts of intense rain that triggered dangerous flash flooding in multiple states.

Arthur will likely dump 5 to 10 inches of rain on sections of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with western portions of the Florida Panhandle through early Friday, the hurricane center said, adding that, “This could generate dangerous to life-threatening flash flooding.”

The storm was also expected to produce “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions along the northwestern Gulf Coast for the next day or two,” the center said. Some tornadoes are possible, as well.

Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, although tropical storm and hurricane activity usually peaks between August and October. Forecasters predicted this season will bring fewer storms than an average year, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s latest outlook calling for eight to 14 named storms, of which three to five might grow into hurricanes.