The National Hurricane Center (NHC) initiated advisories on it as Potential Tropical Cyclone One over the eastern Yucatán Peninsula on June 2.

On May 31, a large low-pressure area developed near the Yucatán Peninsula, partially related to the Pacific basin remnants of Hurricane Agatha interacting with an upper-level trough over the Gulf of Mexico.

[5] Around this time, surface observations and satellite imagery noted that the system remained disorganized due to southwesterly wind shear, with deep convection displaced from the estimated center.

[10][11] At 00:00 UTC on June 5, the disturbance finally established a well-defined center with sufficient convection, becoming Tropical Storm Alex approximately about 85 mi (140 km) north of Grand Bahama Island.

By 18:00 UTC, Alex reached its peak intensity with maximum winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 984 mbar (29.06 inHg).

And, energized by Alex's remnants, it soon was producing hurricane-force winds as it moved over the central Atlantic,[12] On June 10–11, the new low passed between Iceland and the northern coast of the United Kingdom near the Faroe Islands.

[5] Heavy rain fell throughout western Cuba as the developing storm moved through the Gulf of Mexico, including a 30-hour total of 11.9 in (301 mm) of precipitation in Paso Real de San Diego, in Pinar del Río.

[17] The rains caused the Cuyaguateje River to overflow its banks, in what some longtime residents of Camino Verde, in the municipality of Guane, described as the worst flooding since Hurricane Alberto in 1982.

[25] The precursor to Alex also generated tropical storm-force wind gusts in the Miami metropolitan area,[26] causing a combined 3,543 power outages in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.