Tropical Storm Chris continues to trek inland into eastern Mexico

July 1 (UPI) -- Tropical storm warnings remained in effect Monday morning as Tropical Storm Chris continued to move inland into eastern Mexico with heavy rains and strong winds.

The National Hurricane Center's 4 a.m. CDT advisory remained consistent from when Chris made landfall Sunday night. Tropical Storm warnings remained in place from Cabo Rojo and Puerto Veracruz.

Maximum winds were listed at 40 mph with higher gusts, extending some 70 miles from its center as the storm was located 65 miles south-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico. Forecasters did predict that the storm would dissipate later Monday.

Rainfall of up to eight inches is expected in portions of eastern Mexico as much as 12 inches could fall in "higher terrain" in the states of Guanajuato, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi.

The storm made landfall late Sunday only hours after forming in the Gulf of Mexico, passing over Veracruz near Lechuguillas in eastern Mexico at about 11:50 p.m. CDT with maximum winds of about 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a statement .

Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides in eastern Mexico into early Monday are anticipated.

Chris is the third named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season after Beryl, which was bearing down on Barbados early Monday, and Alberto, which made landfall over Mexico on June 20 and lashed Texas with heavy rainfall.