During the last couple days of August, a broad low pressure system located near western Cuba produced scattered storms in the neighboring southeastern Gulf of Mexico and northwestern Caribbean. The disturbance moved generally west over the next few days, passing north of the Yucatán Peninsula. On September 2, thunderstorms increased near the low. Conditions in the western Gulf of Mexico were favorable for development and Tropical Depression Seven formed during the morning of September 3. Deep convection blowups appeared west of the circulation center that afternoon. These were measured to contain tropical storm force winds, so the system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Fernand. Even in the face of southeasterly wind shear, the system intensified a little more that evening, reaching its peak intensity of 50 mph sustained winds and a pressure of 1000 mb. Heavy rain bands in Fernand's western semicircle had already swept across northeastern Mexico by that point.
Since the heaviest thunderstorms were ahead of the center, they moved over land first, and Fernand's maximum winds began to drop ahead of its landfall along the Mexican coast during the afternoon of September 4. The center crossed the coast about 150 miles south of the Texas border. Fernand's circulation quickly lost definition after landfall and it weakened to a tropical depression. Late that evening, it dissipated. The cyclone caused some flash flooding in the mountainous terrain of northeastern Mexico, where over 10 inches of rain fell in some places.
The primary threat from Tropical Storm Fernand was heavy rainfall.
Fernand had only a day over water before its landfall in Mexico, but managed to strengthen into a moderate tropical storm.
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