U.S. weather forecasters Tuesday evening demoted Debby from a tropical storm to tropical depression as it soaked Florida.

In an 8 p.m. EDT advisory, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Debby had deteriorated to the point it was only producing maximum sustained winds of about 35 mph.

The storm was centered about 25 miles north of Cedar Key, Fla., moving to the east-northeast at 6 mph.

The hurricane center said it had discontinued its tropical storm warning for the gulf coast of Florida.

The storm is expected to generally keep heading to the east-northeast and pick up forward speed in the next couple of days, crossing Florida's Northern Panhandle by Wednesday night. Northern Florida and extreme southeastern Georgia can expect another 4-8 inches of rain, the hurricane center said.

Forecasters said tornadoes were possible in the Florida panhandle Tuesday night, while the coastal storm surge will slowly weaken in the coming days.

Total accumulated rainfall could hit 25 inches in northern Florida.

President Barack Obama spoke with Florida Gov. Rick Scott Tuesday to offer federal assistance.

"The president expressed his condolences for the loss of life as well as the extensive damage to homes in Florida as a result of the storm," the White House said in a statement. (c) UPI