A westward-moving hurricane killed 17 people and severely damaged Charleston, South Carolina, and the surrounding area in late August.

A couple of weeks earlier, the Pensacola, Florida area had a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that produced winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) over land.

Two previously unknown tropical cyclones were identified using records including historical weather maps and ship reports, and information on the known storms was amended and corrected.

[4] Identified by its lack of associated frontal boundaries and closed circulation center, the first tropical cyclone of the 1911 season formed on August 4 over southern Alabama in the United States.

[2] Based on ship observations in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, a low-pressure area developed north of Key West in early August.

[3] At 22:00 UTC on August 11, the hurricane reached its peak intensity and concurrently made landfall near the border between Alabama and Florida as a small tropical cyclone.

[3] While developing in the Gulf of Mexico, the tropical cyclone brought light rainfall to Key West, amounting to 1.82 in (46 mm) over two days.

[8] The hurricane's outer rainbands affected the Florida panhandle as early as August 10, producing winds as strong as 80 mph (130 km/h) in Pensacola,[6] where it was considered the worst since 1906.

[9] During the afternoon of August 11, the United States Weather Bureau issued storm warnings for coastal areas of the gulf coast where the hurricane was expected to impact.

[10] Upon making landfall, the storm brought heavy precipitation, peaking at 10 in (250 mm) in Molino, Florida, although the heaviest rainfall was localized from Mississippi to central Alabama.

After attaining hurricane status, the storm turned more towards the northwest, and several days later reached its peak wind speeds of 100 mph (155 km/h); a barometric pressure of 972 mbar (hPa) was reported.

[1] The center passed inland a few miles north of Savannah, Georgia, on August 28; upon making landfall, the hurricane rapidly degenerated.

[7] The storm raged for more than 36 hours, causing severe damage;[14] the winds unroofed hundreds of buildings, demolished many houses and had an extensive impact on power and telephone services.

Tides 10.6 ft (3.2 m) above normal left a "confused mass of wrecked vessels and damaged wharfs", according to a local forecaster in Charleston,[7] while six navy torpedo boats were ripped from their moorings and blown ashore.

Quickly weakening to a tropical storm, the cyclone continued westward across Central America and briefly entered the eastern Pacific Ocean.

[17] The disturbance was the precursor to a tropical depression which developed over the southern Bahamas and headed west-southwestward across Cuba,[1] where, at Havana, winds blew from the southeast at 44 mph (71 km/h).

[1] An area of high pressure over the United States prevented the cyclone from turning eastward toward Florida, and it continued into the Gulf of Mexico.

Although a ship dubiously reported winds of over 50 mph (80 km/h) in association with the system, a lack of supporting evidence precludes its designation as a tropical storm.