On May 29, a weather system in the Yucatán Peninsula created a small area of thunderstorms over the Yucatán Channel. The thunderstorms got stronger near the weather system. By May 30, clouds from the area reached from Nicaragua to the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Another weather system, called a tropical wave, created a storm on May 30. The next day, a cyclone formed inside the system. The storm moved towards the north-northeast, and slowly gained strength. More thunderstorms formed near the center, and the system became a tropical depression. A tropical depression is a type of storm.