By July 22, Bret had been devoid of strong thunderstorm activity for several hours, prompting the National Hurricane Center to discontinue public advisories when it was located about 375 miles (604 km) north of Bermuda.

In mid-July, 2011, a broad upper trough dropped southward over the northwest Atlantic, supporting a cold front that extended westward across Bermuda to inland over Georgia.

[6] A reconnaissance flight observed a closed circulation center about 100 mi (160 km), northwest of Great Abaco Island at 18:00 UTC that day, which confirmed the formation of a tropical depression.

[8] Though traces of dry air approached it from the west, the cyclone continued to strengthen, as prominent bands of deep thunderstorms tightened around it eastern semicircle.

By July 19, the circulation center had become exposed and devoid of deep convection, and the storm weakened to 50 mph (80 km/h) winds upon moving through the increasingly hostile environment.

[13] Despite the unfavorable conditions, Bret retained this intensity for the next couple of days as it briefly slowed, with a distinct low-level circulation and a few patches of persistent thunderstorms over its southwestern quadrant.

[15] Over the next day, Bret continued to deteriorate in organization;[16][17] however, a brief decline in the upper winds allowed intermittent bursts of convection to redevelop south of the exposed center.

[18][19] Bret eventually weakened to a tropical depression over cool ocean temperatures early on July 22, once again lacking significant convection while increasing in forward speed.

[24] Further south, a severe weather warning was in effect for New Providence and Andros Island,[25] and authorities urged small craft operators to secure their vessels.

[28] Off the coast of Florida, the storm generated rough sea conditions with waves of up to 5 ft (1.5 m);[31] high surf lightly injured several swimmers and surfers in Brevard County.