The U.S. National Hurricane Center reclassified the short-lived tropical cyclone after its top sustained winds decreased to near 35 miles per hour.

There was a chance Bonnie could regain tropical storm strength as it moves out over the Gulf of Mexico Friday evening, but the Miami-based hurricane center said the current environment in the Gulf made that unlikely.

The storm has been on a track expected to take it over the site of BP Plc's deepwater oil spill after its trek across Florida.

Oil and natural gas producers in the energy-rich Gulf were evacuating offshore workers earlier Friday, and the U.S. government said 28.3 per cent of Gulf oil production and 10.4 per cent of gas output had been shut down ahead of the storm.

Two rigs drilling relief wells intended to permanently plug BP's deepwater Gulf oil gusher were preparing to move out of Bonnie's path Friday.

The evacuation could push back BP's mid-August target date for ending the worst oil spill in U.S. history, but the blown-out Macondo well will remain capped during the halt in operations.

Bonnie, which had packed top sustained winds of about 40 miles  per hour, doused much of south Florida with heavy rains as it moved across the peninsula.

There were no reports of significant damage or storm surge.

With only a slight chance of intensification, Bonnie was not expected to become a hurricane. It was due to make landfall again anywhere between the Louisiana coast and Florida's northwest Panhandle early Sunday morning.

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