However, southwesterly upper-level winds caused Gordon to weaken as it approached land, and it was downgraded to a tropical storm by late on September 17.

At 0300 UTC on September 18, Gordon made landfall near Cedar Key, Florida as a strong tropical storm.

Gordon brought moderate storm surge to the west coast of Florida; one person drowned due to rough seas.

In the Tampa Bay area and Cedar Key, minor roof damage to houses and street flooding occurred.

On September 9 and 10, the tropical wave moved through the Lesser Antilles bringing local heavy rainfall and wind gusts reaching 35 mph (56 km/h).

However, later that day, a broad low pressure area had developed along axis of the wave, based on surface observations about 118 mi (190 km) southeast of Cozumel, Mexico.

Early on September 14, it was estimated from satellite imagery that the low pressure system was near tropical depression strength, even though the convection was still disorganized.

[2] Late on September 15, the depression moved off the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it showed signs of better organization.

[3] Early on September 16, data from Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated that the storm had strengthened to about 60 mph (97 km/h) at the surface, and the barometric pressure had fallen to 1,003 mbar (29.6 inHg).

[1] Upon being a tropical storm on September 16, Gordon was moving northeastward towards the Big Bend of Florida, continuing to slowly intensify.

Gordon reached a peak intensity of 80 mph (130 km/h), six hours later while located about 190 mi (310 km) southwest of Tampa, Florida.

Hurricane warnings were initiated on September 17 for areas along the Florida coast from Anna Maria Island to Ochlockonee River.

Tropical storm warnings were issued south of Anna Maria Island to Bonita Beach and west of Ochlockonee River to Indian Pass.

Tropical storm warnings were also issued along the east coast of the United States from Titusville in Florida to Little River Inlet in South Carolina.

[7] In various areas of Florida, spokesmen for the Emergency Operations Center advised residents to prepare for the storm and monitor the track of the approaching hurricane.

Officials forced schools in six counties – Gilchrist, Columbia, Citrus, Taylor, Lafayette and Suwannee to close down for one day.

[8] Gordon also forced the cruise liner Carnival Sensation, consisting of 2,200 passengers and 900 crew members, to remain at sea for one day.

[1] Before Gordon made landfall in Florida, one death occurred when a surfer drowned in the raging seas offshore Pensacola.

[15] Due to high tides, a large portion of the west coast of Florida from Pinellas County southward experienced coastal flooding.

The Courtney Campbell Causeway, which connects Clearwater and Tampa, was closed for almost four hours due to storm surge flooding.

Further south in Manatee County, storm surge and high tides flooded 25 homes and businesses in Bradenton Beach.

Minor beach erosion occurred in Charlotte County and a sustained wind speed of 37 mph (60 km/h) was reported in Punta Gorda.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon brought heavy rainfall to South Carolina, with spotter reports and radar estimates indicating over 8 inches (200 mm) in Georgetown.

Numerous streets were reported flooded by emergency managers, while according to newspaper accounts, there was standing water of more than 2–3 feet (0.61–0.91 m) in depth in many areas.

Water entered homes and businesses in the McClellanville area and inundated a portion of U.S. Route 17, causing that section to be closed for most of the day on September 18.

Doppler radar estimates indicate that around 3 inches (76 mm) of rain fell in only 3 hours in portions of Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's County, resulting in minor flooding in poor drainage or low-lying areas.

In West Virginia, the storm produced locally heavy rainfall in the Eastern Panhandle, peaking at 1.82 inches (46 mm) in Berkeley County.

[15] The remnants of Gordon dropped heavy rain across southeast Pennsylvania on September 19, resulting in flooding in low-lying areas.

The heaviest rain fell near Willow Grove NAS, located in Horsham Township, Montgomery County.

Heavy precipitation fell in west central and southwest New Jersey, causing poor drainage flooding in low-lying areas.