Hurricane Gilma originated from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa and traversed the Atlantic Ocean during the second week of July 1994.

[1] Deep convection developed around the center of circulation throughout the day and banding features became apparent on the west and south sides of the storm.

[1] Low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures, recorded up to 29 °C (84 °F) by a ship near the hurricane, allowed the storm to undergo rapid intensification.

[6][8] Several hours later, Gilma attained its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 mph (255 km/h) and a barometric pressure estimated at 920 mbar (hPa; 27.17 inHg).

[7] The reason for the sudden weakening is unknown; although the tropical upper tropospheric trough originally located over the storm, providing it with a favorable anticyclonic flow, shifted westward to the International Date Line.

[9] After maintaining Category 3 intensity for 24 hours, the combination of increasing wind shear and degrading outflow, Gilma resumed its weakening trend.

Gradual weakening continued to take place throughout the rest of the storm's existence, leading to its downgrade to a tropical depression on July 30.

Several hours after being declared a tropical depression, the storm dissipated early on July 31 over open waters south of Midway Atoll.