Hurricane Marco has been downsized to a tropical storm. The storm's track shifted westerly and weakened overnight, according to a National Hurricane Center (NHC) update released Monday at 10 a.m.

With winds of 45-50 mph, it is now designated a tropical storm. Typically, tropical storms have winds from 40-73 mph.

Meteorologists are carefully watching conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. What looks like the simultaneous formation of two hurricanes in that area is unprecedented. Colorado State University researcher, Phil Klotzbach says it’s never happened before, at least since 1900, since weather data has been recorded.

The category of a hurricane is measured by the hurricane wind scale. Category 1 hurricanes have 74-95 mph winds. Category 2 hurricanes record 96-129 mph winds. 

The center of tropical storm Marco was 55 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving northwest at only 8 mph.

Although forecasters expect Marco to brush the coast of Louisiana before it veers off slightly west, it continues to deteriorate.

The hurricane warnings have been replaced with tropical storm warnings. There is still a danger of high winds and storm surges along the coastline of Louisiana on Tuesday and Texas on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Laura gains strength

In the meantime, Tropical Storm Laura formed last week in the eastern Caribbean and has been battering Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

NHC forecasters say Laura could still reach Category 2 hurricane wind-speed by late Tuesday. This storm poses a threat to the U.S. eastern Gulf Coast. 

Laura’s trajectory is toward the Gulf of Mexico. It's forecast to make landfall overnight Wednesday, near the Louisiana/Texas state coastline.

--------------------------------------------------

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it's newsworthy, we'll follow up on it.

Want guaranteed coverage? We also offer contract journalism here.  Just be sure you're comfortable giving up editorial control because our journalists are dogged and will follow the story through to the conclusion. The story will be published to our exacting standards, without regard for your preferred slant.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions -- check out our writer's guidelines here.