Tropical Storm Larry is expected to intensify into a hurricane soon, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Wednesday. Larry is located about 370 miles (595 km) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, packing maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), the Miami-based weather forecaster said. Larry was strengthening and moving quickly westward after forming off the coast of Africa earlier Wednesday. Its strengthening paused later Wednesday, but its intensification is likely to resume late Wednesday night and Thursday, the NHC said in its latest advisory. Forecasters predicted it would rapidly intensify in a manner similar to Ida, becoming a major hurricane with top wind speeds of 120 mph (193 kph) by Saturday. Kate remained a tropical depression and was expected to weaken without threatening land. The Associated Press contributed to this report