MIAMI (AP) – Tropical Storm Irene became better organized and stronger Thursday as it moved closer to the East Coast, but any landfall was still days away.

“We’re forecasting it to become a hurricane in a few days,” said James Franklin, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Irene is expected to move toward the East Coast from Georgia to Virginia over the next five days, though it was still too soon to tell what kind of threat Irene posed to land, Franklin said.

Irene broke records Sunday as the earliest ninth named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Normally, only two named storms have formed by this time in the season.

It weakened to a depression Monday, but regained tropical storm strength Wednesday.

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On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov