The twenty-fourth tropical depression and twenty-third named storm of the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Beta originally formed from a trough of low pressure that developed in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico on September 10.

After Sally moved inland over the Southeastern United States and weakened, the disturbance became nearly stationary in the southwestern Gulf, where it began to organize.

[nb 1] The system held its intensity for a day due to the influence of strong wind shear and dry air, before eventually attaining tropical storm strength.

It slowly moved northward and intensified to a mid-range tropical storm before dry air and wind shear halted its intensification.

The storm's sprawling nature and slow-movement caused numerous areas along the Gulf Coast to be pounded by heavy surf and high waves for several days, while torrential rainfall and storm surge affected areas that were already struggling to recover from previous tropical cyclones, such as Hurricanes Laura and Sally.

[5] Little to no development of the system occurred as it began to slowly turn southwestward and by September 14, it was not expected to become a tropical cyclone due to strong upper-level winds produced by nearby Hurricane Sally.

[7] The next day, hurricane hunters found a closed circulation, and as thunderstorms persisted near the center, the NHC initiated advisories on Tropical Depression Twenty-Two at 23:00 UTC on September 17.

[10] Although affected by wind shear and dry air, the storm continued to intensify, reaching a peak intensity of 60 mph (97 km/h) and a pressure of 994 mb (29.36 inHg) at 15:00 UTC on September 19.

[13] After jogging northeastward, Beta's convection continued to wax and wane as the storm moved west-northwest with the center reforming to the west.

[15] As Beta approached the Texas coast, it weakened some before making landfall on the Matagorda Peninsula at 04:00 UTC on September 22 with winds of 45 mph (72 km/h) and a pressure of 999 mbar (29.5 inHg).

The sprawling nature of the storm also brought heavy rainfall to Louisiana, which was still recovering from a number of other systems that had affected the state during the season.