Tropical storm Hilda continued to weaken Wednesday morning but is still expected to bring "significant rain" to the islands.

Hilda was downgraded to a tropical storm Tuesday and officials project it to become a tropical depression Wednesday night or Thursday. A flash flood watch is in effect for Hawaii island from 6 p.m. Wednesday through 6 a.m. Saturday.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, the storm was showing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, down from 60 mph Tuesday night. A category 1 hurricane features minimum sustained winds of 74 mph.

National Weather Service forecasters said steady weakening is expected over the next couple of days, with tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 70 miles.

The forecast track for Hurricane Hilda has shifted to the south and the storm is forecast to pass south Hawaii island on Thursday.

Hilda’s strength peaked as a category 4 hurricane on Saturday with 140 mph winds.

Westerly winds were slowing the progress of the storm, which was about 270 miles southeast of Hilo and 495 miles southeast of Honolulu at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The storm was moving north-northwest at about 1 mph, down from 5 mph earlier Wednesday morning.

Hilda is expected to bring rough seas, high humidity and rain to the islands before the storm actually hits.

The storm is expected to produce 6 to 12 inches of rainfall and possibly up to 18 inches in some cases along and north of its path. The rains could result in dangerous flash floods and mud slides across portions of the Hawaiian Islands late Wednesday and into the weekend.

Hawaii County remains under a tropical storm watch. That means tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.