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MIAMI – Hurricane Katia is continuing its trek across the Atlantic with little change in strength, while a thunderstorm cluster in the Gulf could strengthen into a tropical depression soon.

Katia has maximum sustained winds early Thursday near 75 mph. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says some strengthening is expected and Katia could become a major hurricane by the weekend.

It’s centered about 1,065 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving west near 20 mph.

Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the hurricane center, says it’s too early to tell if Katia will hit the U.S., where parts of the East Coast are still recovering from Hurricane Irene.

Also becoming a concern is a thunderstorm cluster in the Gulf of Mexico, which has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next few days.