Two days later, the slow-moving hurricane took a more westward trajectory and passed south of Grand Cayman—sustained winds on the island peaked at with a gust to , while the air pressure bottomed out at 984 mbar (hPa; 29.06 inHg). Between October 16–17, the storm made an abrupt turn towards the north along the 83rd meridian west and continued to strengthen, gradually accelerating northwards. It became a major hurricane by 18:00 UTC on October 17 and reached Category 4 intensity six hours later as it passed over the western portion of Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. The following morning, the cyclone reached its peak intensity with winds of , a value extrapolated by the reanalysis project based on a pressure of 937 mbar (hPa; 27.67 inHg) observed on the northern coast of Cuba; this was the lowest pressure measured in connection with the hurricane. Maintaining peak strength, it made landfall on mainland Cuba at around 08:00 UTC on October 18, crossing the narrowest part of the island west of Havana before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico.