a category 2 hurricane with winds of was first seen at mid-day on august 18 about east of barbados. the hurricane tracked northwestward at , and grew to a major category 3 hurricane. that night, the hurricane passed over martinique, lashing the island for four hours. the hurricane killed more than 700 people alone in martinique. after reaching its peak intensity with winds of and a minimum central pressure of 961 mb, the storm began to weaken, becoming a category 2 storm early on august 20. that evening it passed to the south of puerto rico. sustained winds were measured at 100-105 mph. as it began to turn northward, it made landfall on the extreme eastern edge of the dominican republic with winds of . around midnight on august 21, the cyclone passed north of grand turk. during the late afternoon and into the evening hours there, frequent rain squalls occurred, and at 10:15 pm a strong gust of wind was reported. after that gust, the winds decreased in intensity, until around midnight when winds picked up from the west. by 8:00 am the next morning, the wind was blowing southerly, and steady rain was falling on the island.