Beginning on September 7, intermittent squalls associated with Betsy's outer rainbands began affecting the coast, producing gusts in excess of . One of these squalls toppled trees and damaged awnings in Stuart. Early the following day, Betsy made landfall on the southeastern Florida coast near Key Largo with a strength equivalent to that of a Category 3 hurricane. Intense winds were felt across the region, with the highest officially wind speed clocked at in Big Pine Key; the same station also recorded the strongest gust documented while Betsy was over southern Florida at . The lowest barometric pressure recorded was 952 mbar (hPa; 28.12 inHg) at a station in Tavernier while it was within the eye of the storm.