Tropical Storm Nadine will drench Belize and southern Mexico with several inches of rain on Saturday, as the newly formed storm swirls ashore just hours after being named by the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical storm warnings extend from Belize City in Belize to the popular Mexican resorts of Cancun and Cozumel.

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Nadine, previously designated as potential Tropical Cyclone Fifteen by the NHC, was just off the coast of Belize early Saturday morning with sustained peak winds of 45 miles per hour.

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What is the forecast for Tropical Storm Nadine?

Nadine is expected to move inland over Central America around noon Saturday with gusty winds and heavy rain. A wind gust reached 83 kilometers per hour in Cancun as Nadine approached Saturday morning. But while wind won’t be a major factor, Nadine has the potential for devastating flooding.

Rain forecast for tropical storm Nadine

Widespread rainfall of 6 to 8 inches is expected early next week in Belize, northern Guatemala and southern Mexican states from Quintana Roo west to Veracruz.

“A few spots could see up to a foot of rain – that’s not out of the question, especially when you’re talking about the mountains and the orographic lift in parts of southern Mexico,” Minar said. “But it is expected that there will be some localized flooding, maybe even some mudslides and landslides.”

The storm will gradually weaken Saturday afternoon through Saturday night as it moves through northern Guatemala and southeastern Mexico.

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“So this is not a long-term tropical storm,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Jane Minar. “In fact, it will probably die off as we get into (Saturday evening) as it moves a lot of that rain into parts of Central America. The models all agree that this will continue to spread through southern Mexico. and Central America as this piece of energy that might end up somewhere in the eastern Pacific.”

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The disruption poses no threat to the US. In fact, FOX weather hurricane specialist Bryan Norcross said hostile atmospheric conditions over Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico should keep potential tropical systems from threatening the U.S. in the near future.