Hurricane Katia was getting stronger as it moved across the Atlantic Ocean on Monday.

By late Monday morning, Katia’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 110 mph to make it a strong Category 2 storm, and the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was possible Katia would get even stronger as the day progressed.

Hurricane specialist Todd Kimberlain said it’s looking less likely Katia will hit land, but that wind from the storm could still affect the US East Coast as it moves north.

Kimberlain also said the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions should still keep an eye on Katia.

Katia was centred about 540 miles south of Bermuda and was moving northwest about 13 mph. As Katia continued to build, a vigorous tropical wave formed late Monday morning about 550 miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and was producing a large area of cloudiness and thunderstorms.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, which designated the tropical wave Invest 95L, said the system had a high chance - 60 per cent - of becoming a tropical cyclone by mid-day Wednesday.