Early on August 27, a ship encountered the first tropical storm of the season, while located about east of the southernmost islands of Cape Verde. It slowly strengthened while moving steadily west-northwestward and entered the northeastern Caribbean Sea on August 30. The storm moved south of Puerto Rico and made landfall in Dominican Republic as a weak tropical storm on September 2. It weakened slightly while crossing Hispaniola, before re-emerging into the Caribbean Sea later that day. On September 3, the cyclone struck modern day Santiago de Cuba Province and then slowly drifted along the southern coast of Cuba. Upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico on September 6, the storm strengthened into a hurricane, while situated near Dry Tortugas.