The 12th named storm of the season, Laura formed out of a large extratropical area of low pressure located about 1,015 miles (1,633 km) west of the Azores on September 29.

[4] During the afternoon, satellites revealed that Laura had developed a deep warm core, a characteristic of a tropical cyclone, but the wind field remained subtropical in nature.

[6] However, the cloud tops became colder overnight and Laura was on the verge of becoming a tropical cyclone by the morning of September 30, but strong interaction with the upper-level low meant it was still subtropical.

[1] Laura peaked as a tropical cyclone, attaining maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 994 millibars (29.4 inHg).

Cold air began to enter the storm on the west side and forecast models showed Laura becoming extratropical the next morning and non-tropical later the next day.

[11] With minimal shower and thunderstorm activity remaining around the center of Laura, the storm degenerated into a remnant-low pressure area on October 1 while still producing tropical storm-force winds.

Early on October 3, the system slowed down as it turned towards the east and strengthened into a hurricane-force cyclone, with winds of 75 mph (121 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 990 millibars (29 inHg), reaching its extratropical peak.

After accelerating towards the east, another large extratropical cyclone absorbed the remnants of Laura while located several hundred miles west of the British Isles on October 4.

At the time, its rain bands began interacting with a cold front associated with a well-developed low west of Norway,[25] dropping up to 113 mm (4.4 in)[26] of precipitation in the northwestern Netherlands.