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The first tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season got a little stronger early Thursday as it headed toward Florida's western coast and a new tropical storm warning was issued for a swath of the U.S. East Coast.

Tropical Storm Andrea's maximum sustained winds increased to near 60 mph (95 kph) and the storm was expected to reach Florida's Big Bend area later in the day before moving across southeastern Georgia and the Carolinas.

Forecasters say Andrea could bring three to 6 inches of rain to the Florida Panhandle and southeastern Georgia, with isolated areas seeing as much as 8 inches.

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