 The convection increased as the storm strengthened over warm waters, and late on August 31 Ernesto attained an intensity of while located about south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina.Shortly prior to moving ashore, an eye began to develop, and early on September 1 the storm made landfall on Oak Island, North Carolina very near the threshold between tropical storm and hurricane status.The National Hurricane Center remarked the possibility that Ernesto could have been a hurricane at landfall, due to the possibility that the strongest maximum wind was not sampled.