The system drifted northwest while gradually intensifying, and was situated south of the Georgia coast late on September 16. While most tropical systems in the vicinity tend to continue northward along the Eastern Seaboard, the cyclone curved westward and moved ashore near the Florida–Georgia state border after achieving a peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of . It progressed inland over southern Georgia as it quickly weakened, but its intensity leveled off after around 18:00 UTC on September 17. The storm skirted the northern Gulf of Mexico as it swerved slightly south of due west, weakening to a tropical depression over southeastern Louisiana. By early September 19, the depression had further deteriorated into an open trough—a poorly defined, elongated area of low pressure.