[2] After five days of erratic motion, Gracie became a major hurricane which struck South Carolina, and weakened as it moved up the Appalachians, bringing much needed rain to a drought-plagued region.

An area of squally weather was first noted a few hundred miles east of the Lesser Antilles on September 18.

After moving west-northwestward for a day, it turned northeastward, where upper-level winds were very favorable and steering currents were very weak.

[2][5] Gracie quickly strengthened and reached its peak of 140 mph (230 km/h) winds on September 29, but cooler air and land interaction weakened it slightly to a 130 mph (215 km/h) Category 4 major hurricane at the time of its landfall at 1625 UTC over St. Helena Sound near the south end of Edisto Island in South Carolina.

[1] By 1900 UTC, gale warnings were in effect from Daytona Beach, Florida to Savannah, Georgia as well as from Wilmington to Morehead City, North Carolina.

[16] The United States Coast Guard vessel Bramble evacuated people stranded in Savannah and Charleston on September 30.

[17] Gracie killed 10 people in South Carolina and Georgia, mainly due to wind and rain-induced automobile accidents, falling trees and electrocution by live wires.

[25] A species of isopod which grows in coastal estuaries, the Cyathura Polita, disappeared after the passage of this hurricane from the Ashepoo River in South Carolina.

[26] The Kermadec petrel, a bird, was swept to Lookout Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania during Gracie, marking the first time it appeared in North America.