 Otis began gradually entering cooler ocean waters, although the National Hurricane Center noted in one of its discussions on the system that the environment was still warm enough to support a stronger storm.The hurricane continued drifting northwestward, and early on October 1 it reached peak intensity at Category 2 status.At the time, maximum sustained winds were at 105 mph (165 km/h) and barometric pressure was recorded at 970 mbar (hPa; 28.64 inHg).