Due in part to flights made by the National Hurricane Research Laboratory, Hilda became one of the most well-documented storms meteorologically in the Atlantic.

The origins of Hilda can be definitively traced back to a tropical wave that trekked across the western Caribbean Sea during the last week of September.

Tracking generally westward,[3] the depression crossed Cape San Antonio, Cuba on September 29, intensifying to tropical storm strength in the meanwhile before moving into the northern Yucatán Channel.

Favorable conditions for tropical cyclone development in the western Caribbean, including the presence of abnormally high sea surface temperatures, allowed for the further strengthening of Hilda.

[1][nb 2] Twelve hours later, the hurricane reached its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 941 mbar (27.8 inHg) based on reconnaissance flights.

[3] Around the same time, an abnormally strong trough centered over Mississippi began to sharply curve the forward motion of Hilda towards the north.

[5] Following peak intensity, further strengthening was inhibited due to the emergence of a high pressure area over the United States Gulf Coast.

[7][8] Rapid weakening followed landfall as a result of the surrounding cold air;[6] by 0600 UTC on October 4, Hilda had been downgraded to tropical storm intensity.

[9] On October 3, the Weather Bureau upgraded the watch to a hurricane warning, and expanded it to include the entire Texas Coastal Bend eastward to Mobile, Alabama.

[14] The U.S. Office of Civil Defense and three companies of the Louisiana National Guard were assigned to areas of the coast expedite the evacuation process.

[17] Though not directly at threat from Hilda, residents of Sabine Pass, Texas were evacuated to nearby towns in fears that roads linking the city to the mainland may be cut off by the hurricane's storm surge.

[15] The United States Atomic Energy Commission delayed a detonation of a nuclear bomb in the Tatum Salt Dome near Hattiesburg.

[17] The United States Navy scrammed planes from its air stations in Meridian, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana in anticipation of Hilda.

[20] As Hilda tracked northward through the Gulf of Mexico, the storm threatened an estimated $350 million worth of offshore oil drilling facilities.

Hilda would become the most destructive tropical cyclone to Louisiana's offshore oil industry at the time of its impact, accruing losses over $100 million.

[23] Despite widespread evacuation of offshore drilling platforms, the 14 crewmembers of the Ocean Driller managed to ride out the storm, at times withstanding winds as high as 120 mph (190 km/h).

[24] The majority of deaths associated with Hilda in Louisiana were a result of tornadoes spawned by the hurricane in its outer peripheral rainbands and squall lines, which began tracking across the region on October 3.

Despite tracking for only 1–1.5 mi (1.6–2.4 km) near Larose, Louisiana, a violent F4 tornado killed 22 people and injured 165 others, destroying 35 homes in the process.

No other tornado in the state resulted in deaths, though multiple twisters in the New Orleans metropolitan area caused extensive damage to several automobiles and buildings and injured five.

Near the coast in Erath, a 125 ft (38 m) high water tower succumbed to Hilda's strong winds and collapsed onto an adjacent town hall where civil defense personnel were operating.

[14] Hilda's sharp curve eastward after landfall and the advection of cold air from the north resulted in gusty winds over the New Orleans area, causing waves to break and spill over the seawall protecting the city from Lake Pontchartrain.

[26] Despite Hilda's intensity at landfall,[1] much of the damage attributed to the hurricane was a result of heavy rains associated with the storm and its interaction with a nearby frontal boundary.

[19][31] Damage was limited to the portions of the coast which were hit by a minor storm surge peaking at 3.9 ft (1.2 m) above mean sea level at Freeport.

Strong winds also uprooted and felled trees and their limbs in addition to as well as a 200 ft (61 m) tall radio mast near Moss Point, Mississippi.

Three of those injuries were a result of a tornado which struck areas of Pearl River County, destroying a home, two barns, and a pumping station.

[32] Interacting with a cold front as it traversed Alabama, the remnants of Hilda caused gusts as strong as 80 mph (130 km/h) in Mobile and Baldwin counties, downing telecommunication lines, uprooting trees, and shattering windows.

In addition to straight-line winds, three tornadoes occurred across six counties in Alabama, with one injuring three people after damaging five homes, a hospital, and a plant.

[29] The rains in North Carolina exacerbated preexisting flood conditions which had previously caused widespread agricultural and infrastructural damage as well as soil erosion.