Kay was packing maximum sustained winds of 110km per hour late yesterday afternoon, slipping from a Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The storm had previously reached Category 2 status Wednesday as it passed by the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.

Kay killed three people in the southwestern state of Guerrero over the weekend and damaged several houses.

It had also prompted Mexican airlines VivaAerobus, Volaris and Aeromexico to cancel domestic flights to popular tourist destination Los Cabos.

Even as the storm weakens over the coming days, the Miami-based hurricane centre said Kay should cause heavy rains and flash flooding along the Baja California peninsula and parts of northwestern Mexico through tomorrow morning.

Kay is expected to make a turn westward by tomorrow evening, the NHC said.