After turning toward the northeast, the hurricane made landfall in Mexico near Manzanillo, Colima, at peak intensity.

Initially forecast to remain offshore, the system curved northeast and moved ashore, becoming one of Mexico's worst natural disasters at the time.

Countless homes in Colima and Jalisco were damaged or destroyed, large portions of the states were inaccessible by flash flooding, and hundreds of residents were stranded.

All coconut plantations were blown down during the storm, leaving thousands without work and instating fear that it would take the economy years to recover.

Torrential rainfall across mountain terrain contributed to numerous mudslides that caused hundreds of fatalities.

Moving west-northwestward parallel to the southwest coast of Mexico, the system steadily intensified, reaching hurricane status by late on October 23.

During that time, interpolation of observations suggests that the storm attained major hurricane intensity – a Category 3 on the modern Saffir–Simpson scale – with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) on October 25.

[2] At 00:00 UTC on October 27, a nearby ship recorded winds of 130 km/h (81 mph), confirming the increase in intensity.

At around 12:00 UTC on October 27, the hurricane made landfall just northwest of Manzanillo, Colima, with an eye 13 mi (21 km) in diameter.

Minatitlán, Colima, suffered especially, as 800 people out of its population of 1000 were dead or missing, according to a message sent to President Adolfo López Mateos.

This water-logged the hills near Minatitlán, and contributed to the huge mudslide late on October 29 that claimed 800 victims.

[24] In the aftermath, air rescue operations were conducted, but the destruction of roads in the area hindered convoys carrying aid.