The strongest hurricane in the Atlantic that year, the cyclone formed from a low pressure area in the southwestern Caribbean Sea early on November 11.

After reaching hurricane status, further deepening was slow, though after recurving toward northeastward, the storm began to quicken its rate of intensification.

Strong winds generated by the storm destroyed approximately 25% of banana trees, while telegraph lines were downed in a number of places.

The origins of the 1912 Jamaica hurricane can be definitively traced to a low-pressure area first identified on November 10 in the central Caribbean Sea, south of Hispaniola.

Although a tropical wave that crossed the Lesser Antilles several days prior was believed to be a possible precursor to the hurricane, this could not be fully concluded due to the lack of observations in the eastern Caribbean Sea.

[2] Early on November 11, the development of a closed atmospheric circulation led to the classification of a tropical storm about 110 mi (180 km) north of Cacique, Colón, in Panama at 06:00 UTC that day.

On November 18, the cyclone reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h), making it equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.

[citation needed] A relatively small tropical cyclone, the hurricane made landfall along the western coast of Jamaica late on November 18.

However, reanalysis concluded that the system instead tracked westward across the Caribbean,[2] slowly weakening before dissipating on November 22 north of Honduras.

[12] The entire town of Savanna-la-Mar was nearly destroyed by the hurricane's effects,[13] which included damage to several local churches.