Monthly Weather Review as akin to "an intense, idealized hurricane." A weakening trough to the north turned the hurricane more northwesterly, bringing it within of the north coast of Puerto Rico. The storm then underwent further intensification to Category 4 status on September 6, and reached its first peak of by 00:00 UTC on September 7. At that time, Donna began turning more to the west as a ridge built to its north, and it soon weakened back to Category 3 status. Over the next few days, the intense hurricane moved slowly through the southern Bahamas without defined steering currents, and the eye passed near or over Mayaguana, Acklins, Fortune Island, and Ragged Island. While passing through the Straits of Florida, Donna brushed the northern coast of Cuba on September 9 with gale-force winds. Subsequently, a cold front moved eastward through the United States and weakened the ridge, causing the hurricane to turn more to the northwest. It re-intensified over warm sea surface temperatures, and the hurricane's minimum barometric pressure dropped to on September 10. Between 02:00 and 03:00 UTC that day, the eye of Donna crossed through the Florida Keys at Conch Key, just northeast of Marathon, with sustained winds of and gusts to . The hurricane continued to the northwest along the southwest coast of Florida, weakening due to interaction with the peninsula, before making landfall on Goodland, a short distance east of Marco Island, with winds of . Donna then traversed Naples and Fort Myers before turning inland to the northeast. At 0800 UTC on September 11, Donna exited Daytona Beach into the western Atlantic with winds of about , still as an organized hurricane. Accelerating to the northeast due to an approaching trough, the hurricane re-intensified slightly before making landfall near Wilmington, North Carolina, early on September 12 with winds of . At 0900 UTC that day, Donna again emerged over open waters near Virginia, although it had weakened, and the eye expanded to over in diameter. Late on September 12, the hurricane made landfall near Brookhaven, New York, as a low-end Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of . On September 13, Donna became extratropical over northern Maine before entering eastern Canada, having become associated with the approaching cold front. After moving across Quebec and Labrador, Donna reached the Labrador Sea and dissipated early on September 14. Preparations At noon on September 3, a hurricane