The eighth named storm[a] of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, Harold developed from a tropical wave that entered the Gulf of Mexico on August 20, after passing through the Bahamas and South Florida.

Harold continued to strengthen as it moved quickly westward, and the cyclone made landfall on Padre Island, Texas, around 15:00 UTC[b] on August 22, as a 60 mph (95 km/h) tropical storm.

Harold quickly weakened as it moved inland over southern Texas and dissipated on August 23, though its remnant mid-level circulation and associated moisture affected the central United States for several more days.

One school district in Texas had to shut down for several days following the storm due to the damage Harold inflicted on its classrooms.

The remnants of Harold affected the southwestern United States for several days, producing flash flooding that killed one person and left another missing in Nevada.

[1]: 2 [5] The disturbance progressed westward, passing through The Bahamas[6] and southern Florida over the following days,[7] entering the Gulf of Mexico the morning of August 20.

[1]: 2 The newly formed cyclone continued to become better organized as it moved more quickly westward toward the Texas coast, steered by a mid-level ridge to its north.

The depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Harold at 6:00 UTC on August 22, as the broad cyclone's rain bands began to move onshore.

[10] Shortly before landfall, Harold's center reformed to the north of its previous position, and the storm strengthened further to achieve its peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 km/h)[11] and a minimum barometric pressure of 996 millibars.

[13] Harold weakened quickly as it moved inland, dropping back to tropical depression status about six hours later, at which time the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) took over responsibility for issuing advisories on the storm from the NHC.

[15] The WPC issued its final advisory on Harold at 15:00 UTC on August 23 as its surface low became increasingly ill-defined and dissipated far inland over Mexico.

A modest storm surge of 1.6–2.2 feet (0.67 m) was reported in areas including Port Lavaca, Galveston Bay, and San Luis Pass.

[28] Heavy rain caved in ceiling tiles inside a building owned by the American Legion in Corpus Christi, which had already been damaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Storm surge flooding inundated the parking lot of the Art Museum of South Texas, as well as closing multiple roads and turnaround of U.S. Route 181 in the North Beach neighborhood.

The collection of water on the burn scar of the Grizzly Creek Fire resulted in a mudslide that closed a portion of Interstate 70 near Glenwood Springs.

[44] Moisture from Harold, combined with the remnants of Eastern Pacific Hurricane Hilary, also led to rainfall across parts of Arizona and Nevada.

[51] Further east in Nebraska, the remnants of Harold produced heavy rainfall in Cheyenne County, which flooded roads in Sidney, stranding a vehicle in high water.