 A storm of potentially Cape Verde origin was detected in the Virgin Islands at 1800 UTC on August 5 . Initially moving westward , the tropical storm gradually gained in intensity before making a sharp curve towards the north on August 8 . The storm continued in a northerly motion before a second <unk> brought it in a generally westward direction on August 9 . Shortly after , the tropical storm reached hurricane intensity as a modern @-@ day Category 1 hurricane . The hurricane eventually made landfall at peak intensity on Hilton Head Island , South Carolina at <unk> UTC on September 21 . At the time , the storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph ( 155 km / h ) and a minimum central pressure of 972 mbar ( hPa ; 28 @.@ 71 inHg ) , equivalent to a modern @-@ day Category 2 hurricane . Once inland , the tropical cyclone gradually weakened , and recurved northeastward before dissipating over the Appalachian Mountains on August 14 . 
