BEAUMONT, Texas — Tropical Storm Erin is moving quickly westward across the Atlantic Ocean and could strengthen into a hurricane by late Thursday, prompting the National Hurricane Center to advise residents of the northern Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to monitor the storm's progress.

Powerful Hurricane Erin has undergone a period of astonishingly rapid intensification — a phenomenon that has become far more common in recent years as the planet warms.

This type of explosive strengthening is happening more frequently as planet-warming pollution tips the scales toward hotter oceans that fuel powerful storms.