Tropical Storm Gamma originated out of a tropical wave that moved off the western coast of Africa on November 3. For a late-season tropical wave, the system kept an unusually high amount of convection as it trekked across the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) began to actively track the wave when it was located about off the coast of Barbados. The low pressure area changed little during November 13, producing locally heavy rains in the Caribbean Islands, but not developing. However upper-level shearing winds abated, making conditions conducive for tropical development, and by November 14 the system had formed Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven.