By the morning of July 13, the thunderstorms moved closer to the center of circulation, as upper-level outflow expanded in all directions. The NHC estimated that Barry attained Category 1 hurricane status by 12:00 UTC that day, concluding that Barry was producing a small area of hurricane-force winds based on observations from the Hurricane Hunters, Doppler radar wind estimates of 75 mph (121 km/h), and recorded sustained winds of 72 mph (116 km/h) at Eugene Island oil field. Simultaneously, the storm reached its peak intensity, with a minimum central pressure of 991 millibars (29.3 inHg). At 18:00 UTC that day, Barry made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Intracoastal City, Louisiana, before weakening to tropical storm status. This made Barry the fourth tropical cyclone recorded making landfall as a hurricane on Louisiana in the month of July.