Hurricane Nicholas Comes Ashore As Tropical Storm With Heavy Rain

(This is a developing story that will be updated through the day.)

DALLAS, TX —Southeastern Texas and Western Louisiana bore the brunt of Hurricane Nicholas overnight as winds weakened enough for the National Hurricane Center to downgrade the situation to tropical storm conditions.

Locally, the National Weather Service says that North Texans can expect scattered showers through the week as a result of being on the periphery of Nicholas' trajectory. Although flooding is not expected, the metroplex could receive as much as an inch of rain.

One bonus: cloud cover will cool the city from the late summer heat, with highs expected to reach the upper 80s and lower 90s.

Nicholas marks the 14th Atlantic hurricane this season, and meteorologists warn that rainfall accompanying the storm surge could lead to flash flooding in the hardest hit ares that could be "life threatening."

Nicholas came ashore on the eastern edge of Matagora Peninsula with winds tracked at 70 mph, according to the Center.

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The storm was only briefly categorized as a hurricane, but could yet do substantial damage in battering the hurricane-weary Gulf Coast. At last report, the storm was moving away from Central Texas in a north-northeasterly path, although not before pounding Corpus Christi and threatening Houston.

"We can't control the amount of rain we'll get," said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, "but we can control our response."

Motorists were advised to stay off the streets because of possible flash flooding, and law enforcement emphasized that although there are crime-ridden areas of the city under threat from the weather, lawlessness will not go unpunished.

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