Moving southwestward towards the southern portion of the Caribbean, the storm reached hurricane strength on November 2 before a period of rapid intensification ensued.

The storm weakened to Category 4 intensity while recurving northeast, moving ashore Cuba's Camagüey Province on November 9 with winds of 150 mph (240 km/h).

As an intensifying hurricane in the southern Caribbean Sea, the storm moved near the Netherlands Antilles and Colombia, causing widespread effects.

The storm lashed the coast of Colombia with strong winds and torrential rainfall, severely hampering the banana crop in the region and disrupting telecommunications.

Marked, albeit localized, damage to banana crops was also reported in Jamaica, where strong winds toppled numerous trees.

The 1932 Cuba hurricane can be traced back to a tropical depression, first identified at 06:00 UTC on October 30 by ship observations roughly 200 mi (320 km) east of Guadeloupe.

[3] During the day, the storm passed approximately 50 mi (80 km) north of Punta Gallinas in Colombia, the northernmost extent of South America.

[3] During that time, the S.S. Phemius recorded a minimum barometric pressure of 915 mbar (hPa; 27.02 inHg); this measurement was the lowest documented throughout the storm's existence.

[3] Due to a gradual curve towards the northeast, the hurricane tracked near Cayman Brac on November 9;[1] a minimum barometric pressure of 939 mbar (hPa; 27.73 inHg) was documented on the island.

Only slight weakening occurred before the hurricane made landfall on the Caribbean coast of Cuba's Camagüey Province at 14:00 UTC that day.

The storm traversed Cuba in six hours before emerging into the Atlantic Ocean late on November 9, after which it began to cross the central Bahamian archipelago.

[1] On November 13, the hurricane began to interact with an extratropical cyclone centered over the Canadian Maritimes,[1][4] and later weakened to tropical storm strength.

As the hurricane moved slowly through the eastern and southern Caribbean, the rough seas and strong winds disrupted shipping routes.

In Colombia, rail telecommunications were interrupted near Santa Marta, and banana plantations in the area were believed to have suffered to some extent due to the storm's winds and rain.

[18] In Jamaica, the storm's passage to the west caused intense winds as strong as 71 mph (114 km/h) to sweep across the island,[19] destroying over 2 million trees.

[27] The town of Santa Cruz del Sur in Camagüey Province was virtually obliterated by a massive storm surge which measured 6.5 m (21.3 ft) in height.