had become sufficiently defined to be classified as a tropical depression south of Cuba. Tracking generally westward, the depression crossed Cape San Antonio, Cuba on September 29, intensifying to tropical storm strength in the meanwhile before moving into the northern Yucatán Channel. Favorable conditions for tropical cyclone development in the western Caribbean, including the presence of abnormally high sea surface temperatures, allowed for the further strengthening of Hilda. Hilda's crossing of western Cuba slightly disrupted the intensification of the tropical cyclone, but strengthening resumed shortly thereafter. Upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico later of September 29, Hilda began to track very slowly at an average speed of , later meeting the threshold of hurricane intensity at 1200 UTC on September 30. During that time, atmospheric conditions over the Gulf of Mexico rapidly improved; a preexisting belt of strong wind shear, which would have inhibited further cyclonic strengthening, disintegrated coincident with Hilda's passage of the gulf. Rapid intensification ensued on October 1, and by 0600 UTC that day Hilda became a major hurricane. Twelve hours later, the hurricane reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 941 mbar (hPa; 27.79 inHg) based on reconnaissance flights. During this phase the storm was centered roughly south of New Orleans, Louisiana. Around the same time, an abnormally strong trough centered over Mississippi began to sharply curve the forward motion of Hilda towards the north. Following peak intensity, further strengthening was inhibited due to the emergence of a high pressure area over the United States Gulf Coast. The presence of this system injected dry air into Hilda, gradually weakening the hurricane. The once prominent eye of the storm clouded over as a result of this advection. During the evening hours of October 3, around 23:00 UTC, Hilda made landfall on the central Louisiana coast near Calumet with a minimum pressure of 959 mbar (hPa; 28.32 inHg) and maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 km/h), making a Category 2 hurricane on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. Rapid weakening followed landfall as a result of the surrounding cold air; by 0600 UTC on October 4, Hilda had been downgraded to tropical storm intensity. The same area of high pressure which had weakened the tropical cyclone later forced Hilda eastward, resulting in the storm's merging with a cold front and thus transitioning into an extratropical