The eleventh named storm and fifth hurricane of the season, Kenneth developed from a disturbance in the Intertropical Convergence Zone to the southwest of Mexico on September 14.

The origins of Kenneth are believed to have been from a tropical wave that crossed Central America into the eastern North Pacific Ocean on September 9.

[3] The system organized further, and at 1800 UTC on September 14 the National Hurricane Center began classifying it as Tropical Depression Eleven about 900 miles (1,400 km) west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

[1] By September 20, its deepest convection was confined to the southern half of the hurricane,[11] and later in the day Kenneth weakened to tropical storm status.

[1] Increasing shear weakened Kenneth to tropical storm status on September 26, and it began a steady northwest track under the influence of low- to mid-level steering flow.

[16] The remnants of Kenneth produced rainfall in the Hawaiian Islands when they interacted with an upper-level trough,[16] causing some reports of flash flooding.

[19] Peak rainfall totals on Oahu included reports of up to 12 inches (300 mm),[16] which puts Kenneth in a three-way tie for ninth on Hawaii's rainiest tropical cyclones list, along with Diana in 1972[20] and a system dubbed "B" from the 1967 season.

[22] The rainfall produced up to 1 foot (300 mm) of flowing water on Pali Highway, leading to surface runoff which flooded a few homes.

[19] Large swells churned up by Kenneth generated surf of 8–10 ft (2.4–3.0 m) that crashed ashore on September 30 along the east shores of the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Molokai, Maui, and Oahu.

[22] During the 61st Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, the Hawaii State Civil Defense requested the retirement of the name Kenneth, citing that the storm had become memorable due to threat or damage.