Tropical cyclogenesis began with the development of the first hurricane on August 27 well west of Cape Verde. It was the strongest storm of the season, peaking as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of . This was abnormally late, as the average date of development of the first tropical storm between 1944 and 1996 was July 11. In comparison, the latest date of the first tropical storm during the satellite era was Hurricane Anita on August 29, 1977. During the month of September, which is the climatological peak of hurricane season, three additional tropical cyclones formed, two of which were hurricanes. After the third hurricane dissipated on September 23, activity went dormant for nearly 2 weeks, until the fifth tropical storm formed near the Lesser Antilles on October 4. As it was becoming extratropical, a sixth tropical cyclone developed in the Bay of Campeche on October 10. The final system formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea, crossed Hispaniola, and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone between Bermuda and the East Coast of the United States on October 28.