was disregarded, recorded winds of in the lower-levels of the eyewall. This reading was disregarded by the hurricane hunters as it seemed too high and not representative of the actual intensity of Georges. The hurricane hunters also noted a large increase in the radius of tropical storm-force winds, prompting the issuance of tropical storm warnings in the Lesser Antilles. Around the time of peak intensity, the eye of Georges was roughly in diameter. Shortly after attaining peak intensity on September 20, Georges began to weaken, as upper-level vertical wind shear caused the eye to become cloud-filled and was no longer visible on satellite imagery. Convection associated with the storm also became less symmetric in nature. In spite of these factors, Georges remained a major hurricane through September 21. Continued weakening took place as the shear restricted a portion of the hurricane's outflow. At 0430 UTC on September 21, Georges made its initial landfall on Antigua with winds of . Several hours later, the storm passed directly over St. Kitts. Shortly after passing over the island, the storm weakened to Category 2 status and winds decreased to . Caribbean islands As the storm approached Puerto Rico late on September 21, the wind shear began to relent, allowing Georges to re-organize; however, its outflow was unable to fully redevelop due to its proximity to land. Around 2200 UTC, the storm reattained Category 3 intensity and made landfall in Puerto Rico with winds of before weakening again. Hours later, the storm entered the Mona Passage and began to once again reorganize. As Georges approached the Dominican Republic, it unexpectedly developed a well-defined eye and began to intensify, attaining winds of ; satellite imagery suggested that Georges re-attained Category 4 intensity. It made landfall on the Dominican Republic at 1230 UTC on September 22 as a Category 3 hurricane. Hispaniola's mountainous terrain was a large factor in the expected weakening of the storm; however, by six hours after landfall, the storm's eye maintained its structure, outflow remained strong, and banding features were still organized. By September 23, however, the center became ill-defined and hurricane hunters were unable to fly into the storm until it moved back over water. The hurricane's core was severely disrupted by the mountains of Hispaniola. Although Georges was exceptionally disorganized, it retained minimal hurricane intensity throughout its passage of the island. Later on September 23, the storm entered the Windward