Cooler waters and increased shear soon prevailed, however, and the storm quickly weakened, dropping to a Category 1 hurricane by late that evening as the low-level circulation became detached from the mid-level circulation due to the strong southwesterly vertical wind shear. Early on September 24, Karl continued its north-northeast track over the open north-central Atlantic and continued to gradually weaken. It started to come in contact with the baroclinic zone and began to lose tropical characteristics, while still a Category 1 hurricane. Karl became extratropical shortly afterward over the northern Atlantic at about 47°N, with its winds dropping below hurricane strength shortly thereafter. The extratropical storm made landfall on the Faroe Islands with hurricane-force wind gusts. As an extratropical low, the cyclone moved northeastward and eastward across the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, eventually reaching Norway before it was absorbed into another extratropical low late on September 28.