Two days later, Able attained hurricane status, and on August 30 it turned sharply to the north-northwest in response to a cold front.

The hurricane reached peak winds of 100 mph (160 km/h) just prior to moving ashore near Beaufort, South Carolina on August 31.

The threat of the storm prompted hurricane warnings in the southeastern United States, resulting in the evacuation of tourists on Labor Day Weekend.

The city struck by the hurricane was heavily damaged and briefly isolated due to downed power and telephone lines.

[2] The next day, the Miami Weather Bureau Office initiated advisories on Tropical Storm Able after the Hurricane Hunters confirmed the presence of a poorly defined center.

[2] After reaching a position about 130 mi (210 km) east of Jacksonville, Florida on August 30, Able slowed and turned to the north-northwest due to an approaching cold front.

[2] At 0300 UTC that day, the hurricane made landfall in a sparsely populated area near Beaufort, South Carolina, where the pressure was unofficially reported as 980 mbar.

[3] Later, the agency issued a hurricane warning from Fernandina, Florida to Georgetown, South Carolina, prompting the threatened areas to enact storm preparations and for ships to return to harbor.

[1] The town received heavy damage from the storm, with houses losing their roofs and downed trees blocking roads due to the winds.

The hurricane also caused two indirect deaths in the state, one from touching a downed power line, and the other from driving into a fallen tree during a period of heavy rain.

[1] In the Mid-Atlantic states, moderate rainfall continued along the storm's path, including 4.97 in (126 mm) at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

[1] Further northeast, rainfall reached over 6 in (150 mm) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York,[11] resulting in localized flooding[1] and damage to the fruit crop.