It officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30, dates which conventionally delimit the period during which most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean.

The most destructive named storm of the season was Hurricane Gert, a tropical cyclone that devastated several countries in Central America and Mexico.

August was the most active month, with four systems developing: Tropical Storms Bret, Cindy, and Dennis, as well as Hurricane Emily.

Due to strong wind shear and its proximity to land, the depression was unable to strengthen and struck western Cuba later that day.

It emerged into the Straits of Florida early on June 1 and began to organize and intensify slightly further, but nonetheless remained below tropical storm intensity.

Thereafter, the wind field of the depression began expanding and lost all tropical characteristics while located northeast of The Bahamas on June 2.

[14] Heavy rainfall in Cuba caused flooding in the central and eastern portions of the country,[14] forcing the evacuation of 40,000 people, destroying 1,860 homes and damaging an additional 16,500.

Additionally, crops suffered severe impact from the flooding, just two months after significant agricultural damage in Cuba from the Storm of the Century in March.

[20] In El Salvador, rainfall from the precursor tropical wave caused mudslides throughout the country, which in turn resulted in 20 fatalities.

Immense amounts of precipitation in Mexico caused flooding in the states of Veracruz, Campeche, Yucatán, San Luis Potosí, Quintana Roo, Nuevo León, and Jalisco.

[27] In Trinidad, winds left 35,000 people without electricity,[28] while rainfall caused minor damage to crops and roads, with losses totaling to about $909,000.

[32][35][39] On other Lesser Antilles, the storm caused minimally impact, limited to mostly small amounts of precipitation, light winds, and minor beach erosion, especially on Puerto Rico.

[8] Sinkholes formed along North Carolina Highway 12 and strong winds uprooted trees, downed power lines, and tore off roofs.

[45][46] A tropical wave and its associated low pressure area emerged into the Atlantic from the west coast of Africa on August 21.

At 12:00 UTC on August 23, Tropical Depression Six developed while located about 415 mi (668 km) west-southwest of Brava, Cape Verde.

[47] Early on August 25, Dennis attained its peak intensity with winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1,000 mbar (30 inHg).

After peak intensity, a relatively strong mid- to upper-level trough caused Dennis to turn north-northwestward on August 26.

Thereafter, an increase in vertical wind shear and a decrease in sea surface temperatures caused the storm to begin weakening.

While tracking west, deep convection diminished and was nearly non-existent by August 31, though the cloud pattern began re-developing on September 3.

[48] The storm accelerated north-northwestward after becoming embedded within fast air currents, which was as Floyd moved between a strong trough and a subtropical high pressure area.

After a buoy reported a two-minute sustained wind speed of 69 mph (111 km/h) and an eye appeared on satellite imagery, Floyd was upgraded to a hurricane at 18:00 UTC on September 9.

While accelerating at nearly 52 mph (84 km/h), the storm began losing tropical characteristics as a result of colder sea surface temperatures and became extratropical at 18:00 UTC on September 10.

The remnants of Floyd continued rapidly eastward and struck Brittany, France, at an intensity equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

After crossing the Yucatán Peninsula, Gert emerged over warm water in the Bay of Campeche, and strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane on September 20.

Rugged terrain quickly disrupted its structure and Gert entered the Pacific Ocean as a tropical depression from Nayarit on September 21.

[52] Because Gert had a broad wind circulation, it produced widespread and heavy rainfall across Central America, which, combined with saturated soil from Tropical Storm Bret a month earlier, caused significant flooding of property and crops.

Although hurricane-force winds occurred upon landfall in Mexico, the worst effects in the country were due to flooding and mudslides induced by torrential rain.

[53] Following the overflow of several rivers,[54][55][56] deep flood waters submerged extensive parts of Veracruz and Tamaulipas and forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate, including 200,000 in the Tampico area alone.

After a ship known as ELFS reported winds of 43 mph (69 km/h), it is estimated that Tropical Depression Nine developed at 18:00 UTC on September 18, while located about 400 miles (640 km) south-southeast of Bermuda.

Although no intensification was predicted, the National Hurricane Center noted that interaction with the approaching cold front could result in baroclinic strengthening.