At 0600 UTC on October 20, Jose attained its minimum barometric pressure of . Six hours later, the storm strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane and reached its maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). Although atmospheric conditions previously seemed favorable for further significant strengthening, water vapor imagery indicated that an upper-trough was extending from the western Caribbean Sea to the eastern Bahamas; this in turn induced wind shear on Jose. Jose weakened immediately after becoming a Category 2 hurricane and winds were 90 mph (150 km/h) when the storm made landfall in Antigua at 1600 UTC on October 21. The National Hurricane Center noted that weakening "may be temporary" and also predicted slow re-intensification. However, Jose instead continued to weaken and was only a tropical storm when it made landfall in Tortola at 1105 UTC on October 21. Under the influence of a large mid- to upper-tropospheric trough, Jose curved northward early on October 22, while located north of Puerto Rico. Later on October 22, the storm began re-developing deep convection, though it still maintained a sheared system appearance.