The wave moved into the Caribbean Sea on September 21 bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to Trinidad and Tobago, the ABC islands, and the northern coast of South America.

[14] The cities of Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Naples were particularly hard hit, leaving millions without power in the storm's wake and numerous inhabitants forced to take refuge on their roofs.

Ian originated from a tropical wave producing a large amount of showers and thunderstorms moving off the west coast of Africa on September 14–15.

[1] The wave subsequently moved westward, passing south of the Cape Verde Islands with occasional bursts of convection during the ensuing six days.

Moderate-to-strong vertical wind shear hindered development of Ian until late the following day; it began rapidly intensifying at 18:00 UTC September 25.

[1][16] Ian weakened to a low-end major hurricane with 115 mph (185 km/h) winds as it emerged off the coast of Cuba and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico around 14:00 UTC.

[1] Ian restrengthened slightly once offshore, then initiated an eyewall replacement cycle causing its wind speed to remain steady at 120 mph (195 km/h) for about 12 hours.

[18] Ian maintained its intensity for several hours before weakening to a Category 4 hurricane as it approached the coast of Florida due to worsening environmental conditions.

[1] Continual land interaction resulted in the frictional displacement of the system, and that coupled with high vertical wind shear caused Ian to quickly degrade to a tropical storm by 12:00 UTC as it moved north-northeast off of the eastern Florida coastline.

[1] At 00:00 UTC, the system's low-level circulation had completely emerged off of the coast of Florida, and although the convection was slightly offset to the north, Ian reintensified to a Category 1 hurricane at that time.

[22] The system made its final landfall that afternoon near Georgetown, South Carolina, at 18:05 UTC, with sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h).

At the time one of the helicopters was deployed to the Turks and Caicos Islands before the development of Ian to assist recovery efforts there after the passage of Hurricane Fiona.

[32] Additionally, the resumption of the Silver Meteor service, which had been suspended since January 24, 2022, due to a resurgence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, was pushed back from October 3 to 11.

[33] The modified schedule and the resumption of service for the Silver Meteor was then pushed out to October 13 due to the extensive damage inflicted along the Central Florida Rail Corridor.

[48] Officials at the Kennedy Space Center delayed the launch of NASA's Artemis 1, and the rocket was returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

[27] Officials in Tallahassee and nearby cities commissioned the monitoring of local power lines and scouring of storm-water systems to make them prepared and secure.

[66] Governor Brian Kemp ordered the activation of the State Operations Center on September 26 which began preparations for the impact of the storm in the later part of the week.

[81] The disturbance brought gusty winds and heavy rain to Trinidad and Tobago, the ABC islands, and to the northern coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, causing flooding and minor damage.

[87] Several inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 50 mph (80 km/h) were observed at Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, along with minor storm surge flooding.

[89] Striking western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, Ian caused extensive damage throughout Pinar del Río and Mayabeque provinces.

[98] On September 29, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, whose jurisdiction covers Cape Coral and Fort Myers, estimated that thousands of people may still be trapped in floodwaters.

[8][a] In the Florida Keys, seven Cuban migrants drowned when their boat capsized off Stock Island, in Monroe County, as Ian moved through; 11 others were missing.

[111] As of 11:00 am EDT on October 1, an estimated 63,000 customers remained without power, primarily in Horry, Georgetown, Charleston, Florence, Williamsburg, and Berkeley Counties.

[123] A separate low-pressure area formed to the northeast of Ian as it dissipated on October 1,[1] which stalled off the coast of New Jersey for nearly a week.

Widespread coastal flooding occurred along the Jersey Shore,[124] with Sea Isle City receiving 8.14 inches (207 mm) of rain between October 1 and 3.

[148] According to DeSantis, Florida was working with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to use the Starlink satellite Internet service to help restore communication across the state.

[153] Critics have noted that federally subsidized flood insurance is one of the reasons that people continue to move to hurricane-prone areas of Florida.

[162] Weeks later several coast side condominiums and hotels damaged by Ian in Volusia County were deemed unsafe and evacuated as Hurricane Nicole approached on November 10.

[176] Internet personality Ryan Hall, Y'all was ranked number three on YouTube during a livestream covering Ian's landfall on September 29.

[181] Some people who sheltered in place at Walt Disney World documented or livestreamed their experiences and the storm, and in some cases monetized the videos which drew criticism from many.