On September 8, the wave began showing signs of organization and gale-force winds, becoming Tropical Storm Mindy southwest of Apalachicola, Florida.

[1] While moving across Mexico, the precursor to Mindy killed a total of 23 people and caused losses of $75 million (2021 USD) as a result of floods.

As Mindy tracked across the Southeastern United States, minor damage was reported through tropical storm-force winds and heavy rainfall.

Briefly on September 1, the system showed some signs of organization, prior to crossing Central America the next day and stopping further development.

While crossing Central America, the wave once more broke apart, with the new southern half emerging into the East Pacific and forming into Hurricane Olaf by September 7.

[1] Trapped between two mid-level ridges to the northwest and southeast, the wave was left within an area of weak steering currents, thus it moved gradually northward.

An overnight burst of deep convection the same day helped the disturbance become better-defined at the surface level, thus scatterometer data indicated gale-force winds and a well-defined center at 15:16 UTC.

At 18:00 UTC, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded the disturbance into Tropical Storm Mindy, about 140 nautical miles southwest of Apalachicola, Florida.

Throughout the remainder of the day, Mindy strengthened within environmental conditions of warm ocean temperatures of 84 °F (29 °C), moderate southwesterly vertical wind shear, and marginally favorable mid-level humidity of 60%.

[1] At 01:15 UTC on September 9, a combination of surface observations and radar data indicated that Mindy had attained a peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1,000 mbar (30 inHg); as it made landfall on St. Vincent Island, Florida.

By 12:00 UTC the same day, Mindy was downgraded to a tropical depression by the NHC, before emerging back into the Atlantic Ocean just six hours later.

Increases of westerly vertical wind shear combined with a recent cold front offshore the Southeastern United States caused Mindy to lose tropical characteristics and convection to become disorganized.

On September 3, Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco expressed condolences to victims and pledged to distribute relief supplies while warning of remaining river flooding in the region.

[11] Across the southern portion of the Guadalajara metropolitan area, firefighters and members of the civil protection rescued stranded vehicles and removed debris from clogged drains to clear roads.

A public transport unit collided with a vehicle carrying deployed personnel in Tlajomuclo, resulting in several injuries and the needed assistance of paramedics.

[15] As a precaution for Mindy, the government of New York City tested a new alert system following major flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

[20] In Jefferson County, large oak trees were downed south of U.S. 27 and the Waukeenah Highway, leaving all customers of Duke Energy in the area without power.

[17] In South Carolina, a combination of storm surge and heavy rainfall from Mindy prompted the closure of more than a dozen streets in Charleston.