Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca early Thursday as a major hurricane before moving inland and weakening to a tropical storm as it dumped heavy rain, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The threat of heavy rain remained in the mountains that rise abruptly behind Acapulco’s famed beaches. Erick spent the day dragging through the coastal mountain range dropping torrential quantities of rain. It was expected to dissipate Thursday night over the mountains in Michoacan state.

The hurricane was downgraded from a Category 4 to a Category 3 storm as it landed, with maximum sustained winds near 125 mph.