 A tropical wave – an elongated trough of low pressure – was detected moving through the Leeward Islands on September 14 . The system acquired a circulation while situated between Grand Cayman and Jamaica on September 18 . Thus , a tropical storm developed at 06 : 00 UTC . With initial sustained winds of 45 mph ( 75 km / h ) , the storm quickly intensified while heading westward , and became a Category 1 hurricane on the modern @-@ day Saffir – Simpson hurricane wind scale early on September 19 . Later that day , the storm strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane and then a Category 3 hurricane only six hours after . The hurricane turned northward on September 20 and made landfall on the Zapata Peninsula of Cuba with winds of 125 mph ( 205 km / h ) at 22 : 00 UTC . With the storm continuing to move northward , it made another landfall in Cuba at 01 : 00 UTC the following day near Güines , Mayabeque Province . Emerging into the Straits of Florida early on September 21 , the hurricane weakened somewhat to a minimal Category 3 hurricane while moving across Cuba . 
