Forming in the Pacific Ocean on September 27, the storm meandered across Central America and southern Mexico as a tropical depression.

The origins of the 1949 Texas hurricane are unclear due to the complex weather pattern that persisted over southern Mexico and Central America around the time of its formation.

This low-pressure area likely stemmed at least in part from a tropical wave that moved westward from the Caribbean Sea into Central America on September 25–26, as well as the remnants of a previous hurricane.

[4] The database first lists the storm as a tropical depression at 06:00 UTC on September 27 just south of the border between Guatemala and El Salvador.

[4][5] Weather observations provided increasingly clearer evidence of the consolidated area of low-pressure associated with the tropical cyclone on September 29–30.

The center of the broad and slow-moving cyclone tracked into the Bay of Campeche near Ciudad del Carmen by 06:00 UTC on October 1.

[4][6] Data from a nearby coastal weather station suggested that the cyclone had strengthened into a tropical storm around the time it re-emerged over water.

[4][9] The lowest barometric pressure observed by a land-based weather station was 978 mbar (hPa; 28.88 inHg) just east of the center of the storm.

The storm encountered colder air and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on October 6 before merging with a weather front over Lake Michigan the next day.

[21] The hurricane produced gusts of 135 mph (217 km/h) just west of Freeport, accompanied by an air pressure of 28.88 inches of mercury (978 hPa) and tides of 11.4 ft (3.5 m) above normal.

[24] The heavy rains damaged crops and caused generally minor flooding along streams flowing towards the western Gulf of Mexico.

The blisters, usually concentrated on the hoods, fenders and tops of vehicles, contained a small amount of water, and peeling paint was also reported on one Shreveport home.

[30] Two deaths were attributed to the storm in Texas: a resident of Port Neches who was electrocuted, and a young woman who drowned in Matagorda Bay.

Rainfall accumulations reached 1–3 in (25–76 mm) across Illinois on October 5–6, with the heaviest rains falling in the southern part of the state.