The cyclone formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 13, and initially moved northeastward, slowly strengthening.

After weakening to a tropical storm, King moved across Georgia, where it caused isolated power outages and minor damage.

[2] At the time, the system was considered a weak and broad depression, producing convection, or thunderstorms, from Honduras to western Cuba.

[2] The tropical storm slowly intensified as it tracked toward Cuba, and on October 16, King attained hurricane status while passing between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

It quickly intensified that day, and at 22:00 UTC, the hurricane made landfall just west of Camagüey with winds of 90 mph (150 km/h).

After entering the Florida Straits, King quickly re-intensified,[1] and Hurricane Hunters indicated maximum winds of 100 to 105 mph (161 to 169 km/h) over water.

[7] At the time of its closest approach to Fort Lauderdale, King was still a major hurricane, the most recent on record to affect the city.

There was an initial report of ten people missing on the ship, although it is unknown how many, if any, were related to the seven confirmed deaths in the country.

[2] Due to its compactness, the storm initially confounded attempts to gauge its intensity, and so forecasters were taken aback by reports of its strength from the Miami area.

[14] Hurricane King struck Miami around midnight local time with a very compact area of strong winds.

Its eye was about 5.2 miles (8.4 km) in diameter; the western edge of the eye moved across Miami International Airport, which reported wind gusts of 125 mph (201 km/h), and the eastern side struck the Miami Weather Bureau office, which recorded sustained winds of 122 mph (196 km/h).

[13] As it made landfall, Hurricane King produced lightning near its center, which was the first confirmed occurrence in Florida;[2] thunder was also heard at the time.

[13] In Broward County aluminum jalousies were bent and shorn of paint, a home was stripped of half its roof tiles, and all but one fruit tree were downed on a property.

Up to 2 ft (0.61 m) of water inundated sections of Miami Beach and left behind deep layers of sand in the rooms and lobbies of dozens of hotels.

[17] In West Hollywood, a town of 2,000 people located north of Miami, strong winds destroyed or severely damaged about 150 houses, leaving hundreds homeless.

[22] Packinghouses and docks were wrecked on the Indian River, and seawalls were washed out at Cocoa Beach; up and down the east coast of the state a number of causeways and bridges were eroded.

[23] At Clewiston, the storm generated tides of up to 19.3 ft (5.9 m), and hurricane-force winds swept the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee.

[1] The storm brought heavy rainfall and wind gusts of up to 55 mph (89 km/h), causing a three-hour power outage in Valdosta and downing several trees.

[26] Due to the loss in citrus crop, prices briefly increased, although they returned to normal levels by late October.

[1] Based on population growth in south Florida, it is estimated that a storm identical to Hurricane King would cause $2.8 billion in insured damage if it struck in 2001, with the total roughly split between Broward and Miami-Dade counties.