Story highlights Storm headed toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Belize

No direct impact is expected in the United States

(CNN) Tropical Storm Earl is moving through the western Caribbean, gathering strength as it's set to make landfall early Thursday in Belize. Earl is forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane before landfall in the Central American country.

A hurricane warning is in effect from Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico, south to the Belize-Guatemala border as well as the Bay Islands in Honduras.

There is a tropical storm warning out for much of the Honduran coast as well as for part of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula south of Cozumel.

The storm has winds of 70 mph (113 kilometers per hour). A Category 1 hurricane has winds of 74 to 95 mph (119 to 153 kilomters per hour).

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