North Carolina ? Tropical Storm Cristobal headed for the open Atlantic late Sunday as forecasters discontinued tropical storm warnings along the Carolinas.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dolly drenched Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and was expected to reach the Gulf of Mexico this afternoon.

At 10 p.m. CDT Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Cristobal’s center had moved to 30 miles east of Cape Hatteras with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph. The storm was headed northeast at 9 mph.

The advisory predicted little change in strength over the next day or two.

Cristobal’s strongest winds were east of the center, out at sea, National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Bandy said.

The Weather Service said Cristobal was expected to produce up to an inch of rain along the North Carolina coast during the next 24 hours.

Rainfall was expected to be 1 to 2 inches with isolated amounts of 4 to 5 inches in areas where heavy rain bands passed overhead, Bandy said.