After peaking, Dot slightly weakened, but maintained its Category 4 status for more than two days; during that time it boasted an unusually large eye spanning as much as 40 mi (65 km) in diameter. Late on August 4, a fourth reconnaissance flight into the storm found surface winds of 160 mph (260 km/h), but this reading was discounted on the basis that pressures were unusually high for a storm of that intensity. On August 5, Dot passed 90 mi (145 km) south of Ka Lae before the storm curved sharply towards the northwest late that day. A more definite weakening phase began after this point, and during the night of August 6, Dot made landfall on Kauai with winds estimated at 85 mph (140 km/h), making the storm a Category 1-equivalent at the time of landfall. After traversing the island, Dot was downgraded to tropical storm intensity and curved back to the west, before eventually dissipating on August 8.