Officials downgraded Carlotta from a hurricane to a tropical storm early Saturday as it weakened while moving across southern Mexico.

The National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center in Miami discontinued the hurricane warning that had been in effect from Salina Cruz to Punta Maldonado and the hurricane watch from west of Punta Maldonado to Acapulco.

Carlotta pushed northward toward the resort city of Acapulco on Saturday after making landfall near the Mexican beach town of Puerto Escondido, where it toppled trees and shook tourist hotels.

"We don't care about the rain, we're going to have fun at the club," said tourist Alejandra Flores, who took a bus with a friend yesterday from Guadalajara to Acapulco. People in Acapulco were calm and dining in restaurants late Friday.

Earlier Friday, Carlotta had toppled billboards and shattered some windows in Puerto Escondido, a laid-back port popular with surfers, where it reached land as a Category 1 hurricane.