<P> After crossing Cuba near Menelao Mora , Hurricane Charley accelerated to the north - northeast , toward the southwest coast of Florida in response to the approach of an unseasonal mid-tropospheric trough . Charley passed over the Dry Tortugas at 1200 UTC on August 13 , with maximum winds of about 110 mph ( 180 km / h ) . The strike occurred only 22 hours after Tropical Storm Bonnie made landfall on St. Vincent Island , marking the first time two tropical cyclones hit the same state within a 24 - hour period . Then Charley rapidly intensified , strengthening from a 110 mph ( 180 km / h ) hurricane with a minimum central barometric pressure of 965 mbar ( hPa ; 28.50 inHg ) to a 145 mph ( 233 km / h ) hurricane with a pressure of 947 mbar ( hPa ; 27.96 inHg ) in just three hours . It continued to strengthen as it turned more to the northeast , and made landfall near the island of Cayo Costa , Florida as a 150 mph ( 240 km / h ) Category 4 hurricane with a pressure of 941 mbar ( hPa ; 27.79 inHg ) at approximately 1945 UTC on August 13 . An hour later , the hurricane struck Punta Gorda as a 145 mph ( 233 km / h ) storm and then passed up through Port Charlotte . However , the eye had shrunk before landfall , limiting the most powerful winds to an area within 7 mi ( 11 km ) of the center . </P>
what category was hurricane charley when it hit florida
Category 4