The hurricane accelerated on a trajectory toward the central U.S. Gulf Coast, sliding south of the Florida Panhandle. During the afternoon of September 1, the hurricane attained its peak intensity, with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) as confirmed by reconnaissance aircraft. On the morning of September 2, Elena approached coastal Mississippi from the east-southeast, still at major hurricane status. It came ashore close to Biloxi, which was coincidentally within the hurricane's first forecast destination range before its extended detour. Once inland, the hurricane immediately deteriorated, weakening to a tropical storm just hours after landfall, and its center rapidly filled. The system curved northwestward over Mississippi and Louisiana, and despite weakening, it continued to ignite thunderstorm activity which spawned heavy rains. Elena persisted for several days before degenerating into a remnant area of low pressure on September 4. Its associated cloud structure became distorted on September 5, and dissipated over Kentucky that same night.