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Tropical Storm Matthew made landfall over Nicaragua Friday afternoon and pushed through to Honduras, bringing with it a threat of heavy rain, flash floods and mudslides.

The weather system was centered about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of the Nicaraguan town of Cabo Gracis a Dios Friday evening and was heading west at 15 mph (24 kph). Its maximum sustained winds had quickened slightly to 50 mph (85 kph), according to the Miami, Florida-based National Hurricane Center.

The governments of Nicaragua and Honduras dropped a hurricane watch they had issued earlier for parts of their countries. Tropical storm warnings remained in effect, as did a tropical storm watch for the coast of Belize, the Hurricane Center said.

The weather system could dump between 6 and 10 inches of rain over portions of Nicaragua and Honduras, with up to 15 inches falling in isolated areas, forecasters said. Both those countries are mountainous and have in the past suffered from treacherous rain-triggered mudslides.

“Torrential rains will be the biggest threat for the next few days,” the Hurricane Center said.

Track-prediction maps indicate that Matthew, the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, will continue westward over the next 48 hours or so, taking it across Honduras and into Belize and Guatemala.

Forecasters say the storm could weaken and become a broad area of low pressure by Sunday.

It could regain strength once it moves back over warm Gulf of Mexico waters and head north toward the United States.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Lisa strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, the center said, becoming the seventh hurricane of the season.

As of 7 p.m. ET, the center of Lisa was about 385 miles (615 kilometers) northwest of the Cape Verde Islands and was heading north in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm’s maximum sustained winds had quickened to 75 mph (120 kph).

There were no watches or warnings in effect associated with Lisa. The storm could continue to strengthen in the coming day, the Hurricane Center said, before weakening by late Saturday as it heads out over cooler Atlantic waters.

By the CNN Wire Staff

Tropical Storm Matthew could linger for days over Central America with torrential rains.