Forming on October 5 from the complex interactions of several weather systems over the southern Caribbean Sea, the storm rapidly strengthened before striking western Cuba.

After entering the Gulf of Mexico, it peaked with winds corresponding to Category 2 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale; however, it quickly weakened before approaching Florida.

Damage was extensive in Cuba, and five people were killed there, making it the only killer tropical cyclone of the 1946 Atlantic hurricane season.

Connected to the cyclone was a shear line stretching from Bermuda to the Caribbean Sea, which spawned an upper-level low over open waters.

It began accelerating as it curved northward, and on October 7, the hurricane crossed extreme western Cuba with sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (145 km/h) and a central pressure of 977 millibars (28.85 inHg).

[2] As it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico, the cyclone peaked with winds of 100 mph (161 km/h), equivalent to low-end Category 2 status, on October 7.

"[1] Immediately after peaking in severity, the storm weakened quickly: after skirting the Dry Tortugas in the lower Florida Keys, it moved ashore early on October 8 near Cortez, near Bradenton—just south of Tampa Bay—with winds of 85 mph (137 km/h).

Its remnants emerged from the coast of North Carolina into the Atlantic and curved southeastward, then bending westward again before dissipating on October 14.

[5] Throughout its course, the hurricane was heavily observed and investigated, resulting in an abundance of information that provided a more comprehensive understanding of a tropical cyclone's vertical structure.

It was profiled in detail in a Monthly Weather Review article by R. H. Simpson, titled "A Note on the Movement and Structure of the Florida Hurricane of October 1946".