Tropical Storm Philippe formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday but so far was on a track that does not pose any threat to land, US weather forecasters said.

At 0300 GMT, Philippe -- packing maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 kilometers) -- was located about 370 miles (595 kilometers) southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde islands, the US National Hurricane Center said.

"Some strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Philippe could become a hurricane by late Monday," the Miami-based center said.

It added that Philippe posed "no threat to land" and said no warnings were in effect.

The projected storm track offered by forecasters showed the storm remaining in the Atlantic far from land before petering out.

Philippe is the 16th named storm of the 2011 Atlantic season, which has seen three hurricanes so far, including Irene, a massive system that unleashed deadly floods and storm surges in the eastern United States.

Also in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Ophelia was located about 310 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands, and was "struggling to survive as a tropical cyclone," the NHC said.

"Ophelia could degenerate into a trough of low pressure at any time if it no longer has a well-defined center," it said, forecasting that the storm would move to the northwest, passing Puerto Rico at a distance, perhaps on Monday.

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