Gert strengthened little before making landfall south of Tampico, Tamaulipas, late on July 24, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (70 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 1005 mbar (29.68 inHg).

Gert struck in approximately the same area as Hurricane Emily just four days earlier, causing fear of flooding and landslides due to saturated lands.

Despite the organization, the low failed to develop into a tropical cyclone due to cool waters on the sea surface and wind shear.

In part, this was due to the Sierra Madre Oriental enhancing large-scale rotation of the disturbance by forcing air to flow parallel to the mountain range, instead of through it.

[2] As a result, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida designated it as Tropical Depression Seven, just 255 miles east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico.

[1] Gert continued to move northwest after becoming a tropical storm, and reached a peak intensity of 45 mph (70 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 1005 mbar (29.68 inHg).

[5] However, due to its interaction with land, the storm quickly weakened back to a tropical depression strength early on July 25, and became a remnant low twelve hours after that.

The primary emphasis of the forecasts was on the impact the rainfall from Gert could cause, particularly on this area of Mexico, which had been hit previously in the season by other hurricanes.

[14] According to the government of Tamaulipas, most of the damage in the state was in farmland and in residents' dwellings, primarily near Matamoros, Valle Hermoso, Reynosa and San Fernando.

[15] In Mier, the spillway of the Las Blancas Dam was overtopped, causing a river bridge to be destroyed and electric power to be lost, as well.