Hurricane John, which came ashore in western Mexico on Monday and lashed the region with strong winds and heavy rains before dissipating, regained tropical storm strength over the Pacific Ocean late Tuesday, prompting a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning for southern and southwestern Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said on Wednesday that the system could even potentially regain hurricane status as it churns along the coast within the hurricane warning area from Tecpan de Galeana to Lazaro Cardenas. A hurricane watch was also issued from Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana and Lazaro Cardenas to Punta San Telmo on Thursday.

A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area within 12 hours as of Wednesday afternoon.

A tropical storm warning, which means that tropical storm conditions were expected somewhere within the warning area, was issued from Punta Maldonado to Acapulco and Lazaro Cardenas to Punta San Telmo, forecasters said.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” the center said.

The system had intensified from a tropical storm to a Category 3 hurricane on Monday, bringing winds of about 120 miles per hour as it struck land.

Forecasters tracked the storm as it fell apart over Mexico on Tuesday afternoon, but they had warned that flash flooding was possible in the south and southwestern parts of the country for several more days.