MIAMI (AP) -- The former tropical storm named Paul has weakened to a tropical depression off the southern half of Mexico's Baja peninsula.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Paul's top sustained winds had fallen Wednesday to 35 miles per hour (55 kph).

The system is expected to move along the coast Wednesday afternoon and then move into the open Pacific.

Paul started Tuesday as a hurricane but it rapidly lost strength as it headed toward Baja, preceded by rains that caused some minor flooding at the peninsula's southern tip.

In the Atlantic, Hurricane Rafael was headed for the North Atlantic after buffeting Bermuda.