Beryl became a tropical storm on August 28 while southeast of the Cape Verde islands. The tropical storm travelled slowly west-northwest, while once coming close to hurricane strength. While midway across the Atlantic on September 2, it weakened to a tropical depression. The depression continued west until its circulation collapsed on September 6, just north of the Windward Islands. Beryl killed 115 people in the Cape Verde islands. Though the Cape Verde islands are usually not affected by hurricanes, another tropical storm, Fran, hit the islands in 1984, killing 31 people.