[1][2] Its tropical cyclogenesis was determined via analysis of atmospheric observations from the surrounding islands, though shipping in the region would confirm the storm's existence the following day.

[1] Tracking slowly towards the west, the nascent tropical cyclone gradually strengthened, reaching hurricane intensity by 00:00 UTC on September 23.

This pressure reading would stand as the lowest taken during the hurricane's lifespan, and also suggested that the storm's initially assessed intensity—equivalent to a modern-day Category 2 hurricane—was significantly underestimated.

[1] Slight weakening occurred as the storm moved over shallower continental shelf waters, leading up to the hurricane's landfall on the Gulf coast of Louisiana at 18:00 UTC on September 29.

[4] Using this measurement, the Atlantic reanalysis project calculated that the hurricane struck Louisiana with a lower pressure: 944 mbar (944 hPa; 27.9 inHg).

[1] Although the moist swampland of the Louisianan Acadiana allowed the hurricane to maintain strength longer than what would otherwise be expected,[1] the storm would eventually succumb to land interaction.

This resulted in the formation of a new low-pressure center and denoted the transition from a tropical to extratropical cyclone at 12:00 UTC on September 30;[5] and these remnants advanced northeastward into the Mid-Atlantic states before they were last noted on October 1 over Pennsylvania.

[2] Owing to the scarcity of shipping traffic across much of the Caribbean Sea,[1] the storm's intensity and potential track were difficult to assess early in its lifetime.

[10] Ships sailing for the Yucatán Channel and in western Cuban waters were warned to exercise extreme caution following the hurricane's passage of Jamaica.

[12] As potential impacts on the United States became more clear, the Weather Bureau issued storm warnings for virtually the entire extent of the Eastern Seaboard from Eastport, Maine southward to the Florida coast on September 27.

[10] Storm warnings for the Louisiana coast—where the hurricane would eventually make landfall—were first issued by the Weather Bureau on the morning of September 28 and disseminated via telegraph and mail.

Warnings continued into September 29, and local emergency offices enforced strict curfews for New Orleans as landfall approached; meteorologist Isaac Cline stated in an entry to the Monthly Weather Review that the effective dissemination of warnings and strict enforcement of curfew "unquestionably" mitigated additional loss of life in the city.

By the afternoon hours, low-lying lands south of New Orleans and east towards Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, as well as areas adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain, were inundated by the quickly rising storm surge.

[13] Upon making landfall, onshore anemometers documented winds stronger than had been recorded in any previous hurricane along the United States Gulf Coast.

[15] Combined with powerful waves, the winds resulted in the sinking of four small steamers at the Port of New Orleans, in addition to several coal barges.

[citation needed] The hurricane also caused significant damage in areas around New Orleans, including the destruction of 90% of buildings destroyed along Lake Pontchartrain.

The heaviest rain fell within an area 25 mi (40 km) east of the center, though heavy rainfall occurred throughout the eastern half of the tropical cyclone as it moved inland.

[4] Precipitation spread ahead of the hurricane as it interacted with a stationary front draped over the Southeastern United States, causing widespread rainfall totals in excess of 3 in (7.6 cm) across much of Mississippi and Alabama.