The precursor disturbance to Ruby was first identified on August 29 over the Philippine Sea, and this system organised into a tropical cyclone by September 1.

Ruby intensified as it moved west, becoming a typhoon the next day and subsequently passing over the Babuyan Islands of the Philippines.

The typhoon caused serious flooding along the mouth of the Pearl River in Guangdong Province in South China, where at least 700 people were killed.

[2] Nimbus 1, a weather satellite, was used to detect and locate this precursor disturbance 21 hours prior to investigation from aircraft reconnaissance.

[5] Aircraft reconnaissance estimated one-minute maximum sustained winds of 100 km/h (62 mph) on their first intercept of the system on September 1.

[5][8] The CMA and HKO both estimated Ruby's central atmospheric pressure bottomed out at 960 hPa (mbar; 28.35 inHg).

[8] Ruby was the fourth tropical cyclone to enter the vicinity of Hong Kong in 1964, a year that featured a record amount of storms tracking near the Crown territory.

[10] Gale-force winds associated with Ruby reached Hong Kong on the morning of September 5 and continued to impact the Crown territory until the following night.

The Royal Observatory headquarters measured a minimum air pressure of 968.2 hPa (mbar; 28.59 inHg) when the centre of the typhoon was roughly 30 km (19 mi) to the southwest.

[10] Numerous injuries were caused by sheet metal torn from buildings under construction in downtown Hong Kong.

[6][18] High voltage electrical wires torn by the winds caused hundreds of fires before the power service was terminated.

[15]: 1  Tai Po was the hardest-hit area in Hong Kong; there, the storm destroyed thousands of village houses and temporary shelters.

[10] High waves pushed water into the Hong Kong City Hall, causing a delay in the 1964 Summer Olympics torch relay.

Hot meals and cash assistance were prepared for the displaced Chinese refugees in Hong Kong by government welfare groups.

[25] The devastation in Guangdong led to an increased influx of refugees fleeing the People's Republic of China for Hong Kong.