Gulf of Mexico ? Alex strengthened back into a tropical storm as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico late Sunday after dumping heavy rains on parts of Central America and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that left four people dead.

Alex, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, was headed on a path that would take it to Mexico’s eastern coast around midweek. Its route was still well clear of the massive oil spill in the Gulf.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm will strengthen further over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and could become a hurricane within 48 hours.

Alex made landfall on the coast of Belize late Saturday as a tropical storm but weakened into a depression as it passed over land across the Yucatan Peninsula. It left land and entered the Gulf on Sunday afternoon.