Tropical Storm Karen weakened into a Depression Saturday night as it approached the Louisiana Coast.
Earlier in the weekend, it was predicted that the storm could have strengthened into a hurricane by the time it reached landfall, but the storm’s top sustained winds dropped from its highest speed of 65 mph on Friday to 35 mph on Saturday night. As a precaution, some coastal areas in the Gulf were reportedly evacuated after the storm caused U.S. energy disturbances a few days ago.
Karen lost its status as a tropical storm and was downgraded into a depression after its wind speeds dropped, which ended the worries that it might become a hurricane. The storm spent much of Saturday either stagnant off the coast or moving at low speeds.
"All tropical storm warnings have been discontinued," the center said in its most recent advisory, according to NBC News. "There are no coastal tropical storm warnings or watches in effect."
Forecasters have reportedly said that they do not expect the storm to gain any strength within the next 24 hours, and it could weaken even more by Monday into a remnant low. The National Hurricane Center said that Karen will likely only drop one to three inches of rain as it makes landfall and that there will be localized flooding on the coast before it dissolves.