Hurricane Keith was a powerful tropical cyclone that formed in September 2000, it caused extensive damage in Central America, especially in Mexico and Belize.

Keith then began to meander erratically offshore of Belize, which significantly weakened the storm due to land interaction.

While moving inland over the Yucatán Peninsula, Keith weakened further, and was downgraded to a tropical depression before emerging into the Gulf of Mexico on October 4.

By late on October 5, Keith made its third and final landfall near Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico as a moderately strong Category 1 hurricane.

Keith brought heavy rainfall to several countries in Central America, which resulted in extensive flooding, especially in Belize and Mexico.

[3] With an anticyclone over the system, the depression was expected to gradually intensify while moving slowly to the west-northwest, a motion caused by weak steering winds.

[4] Late on September 28, the NHC upgraded the depression to tropical storm status and named it Keith,[2] after another Hurricane Hunters mission reported flight-level winds of 61 mph (98 km/h).

[5] By the time Keith became a tropical storm, it was beginning to undergo rapid deepening,[2] fueled by warm waters, low wind shear, and an organizing cloud pattern.

[8] In a 13‑hour period beginning at 1808 UTC on September 30, Keith underwent explosive deepening, as its barometric pressure dropped at a rate of nearly 3 mbar (0.089 inHg) per hour.

[2] The NHC noted that Keith experienced conditions "ideal for strengthening", with the exception of the approaching land interaction with the Yucatán peninsula.

[9] The hurricane slowed until stalling offshore eastern Belize, caused by the ridge to the north and the precursor to Tropical Storm Leslie forming over Cuba.

"[10] Later that day, Hurricane Hunters estimated a minimum pressure of 939 mbar (27.7 inHg) and deployed a dropsonde that observed peak winds of 176 mph (283 km/h).

Based on the data, the NHC estimated that Keith attained peak winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) at 0700 UTC on October 1, while just offshore eastern Belize.

[11] While remaining nearly stationary, Keith made a landfall on Ambergris Caye late on October 2 as a minimal hurricane.

[12] At 0300 UTC, the storm made its second landfall about 29 mi (47 km) north of Belize City, and within nine hours weakened into a tropical depression.

[13] Early on October 4, Keith emerged into the Bay of Campeche,[2] where favorable conditions allowed convection to quickly redevelop.

[16] Keith intensified further that day, until it made its final landfall 23 mi (37 km) north of Tampico with winds of 90 mph (150 km/h).

[2] On September 29, shortly after Keith formed, a hurricane watch was issued for the Yucatán Peninsula from Chetumal to Cabo Catoche in Quintana Roo.

There were reports of people walking onto the temporarily dry bay floor, despite the potential for the waters to return in the event of shifting winds.

[37] The Belize River rose for several days after the storm,[38] reaching record levels of 21 ft (6.6 m) in width,[37] which isolated 15 villages.

[2] When Keith made its final landfall, Tampico reported tropical storm force winds, with gusts to 63 mph (101 km/h).

[32] In Nuevo León, the remnants of Keith interacted with a cold front to produce heavy rainfall,[49] reaching 14.43 in (367 mm) in Sabinas.

[54] While Keith was organizing, the storm drew moisture from the eastern Pacific Ocean across Central America, producing heavy rainfall.

[55] In Guatemala, the rains caused flooding in ten towns and inundated approximately 500 farms in the Melchor de Mencos municipality with about 4 inches (100 mm) of water.

After rainfall lashed in Villanueva, Chinandega, for six days, the resultant flooding forced 300 families evacuated, while there was significant losses the corn, beans and plantains crops.

[64] The Peace Corps, the Red Cross, and the United States Navy black hawk helicopters worked together to deliver rice, corn, sugar, salt, cooking oil, toilet paper, and medications to about 700 families in Bermuda Landings and adjacent isolated villages.

[47] Between October and November 2000, the National Society distributed 5,289 food and hygiene parcels to 26,293 people in Belize City, Orange Walk, and Belmopan.

Placencia also delivered a boat full of donated food, clothing, and building supplies to the San Pedro and Caye Caulker area.

The Belize International Airport was back online by the morning of October 4, only a single day after the tropical cyclone passed through the area.

[61] Due to the hurricane's high impact, the name Keith was retired by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 2001 and it will never again be used for a North Atlantic tropical cyclone.