MIAMI - A tropical storm watch was issued for central Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, where residents are still recovering from last year's devastation, as Tropical Storm Arlene strengthened and moved into the Gulf of Mexico on Friday.

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At 8 a.m. EDT, Arlene's poorly defined center was located about 50 miles north of the western tip of Cuba. The storm was moving north-northwest at about 10 mph, and Arlene was expected speed up slightly on Friday, the <FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post>    </FORM>National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The large storm's wind and rain extended 140 miles to the north and east from its center.

Arlene had maximum sustained winds of 55 mph, up from 45 mph earlier Friday, forecasters said. The storm could drop as much as 5 to 10 inches of rain, and possibly cause flooding in western Cuba and tornados in southwest Florida and the Florida Keys, meteorologists said.

"This is going to be a major rainfall event before and ahead of the storm," said meteorologist Trisha Wallace.

The Cuban government issued a tropical storm warning for the western province of Pinar Del Rio to the capital of Havana. A tropical storm warning was also in effect for the Dry Tortugas, a cluster of islands about 70 miles west of Key West that comprise a U.S. national park. Other than park personnel, there are no permanent residents.

The storm was not expected to develop into a hurricane before making landfall, Wallace said.

Hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Last season, Florida was struck by hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne; between them, the four storms damaged one out of every five homes in the state. The storms caused about 130 deaths in the United States and are blamed for $22 billion in insured damage.

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