Ophelia became the fourth hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season on Thursday and was forecast to gather strength, weather experts said, announcing a storm watch was in effect for Bermuda.

Ophelia, a category one storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, was located 770 miles (1,235 kilometers) south-southeast of Bermuda, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kph) and was moving north-northwest at a speed of almost nine miles an hour.

"Some additional strengthening is forecast during the next day or so," the center warned, adding that Bermuda would begin to experience tropical storm force winds late Saturday.

Hurricane Irene was the most severe of the previous three hurricanes, unleashing deadly floods and storm surges in the eastern United States.

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