Hurricane Danny was the only hurricane to make landfall in the United States during the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the second hurricane and fourth named storm of the season. Like the previous four tropical or subtropical cyclones of the season, Danny had a non-tropical origin. The disturbance ended a high frequency beginning of the season, with the next tropical cyclone over a month later. The system became the earliest 5th tropical or subtropical storm of a season when it reached tropical storm strength on July 17. During the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Emily attained tropical storm status on July 12, therefore breaking the record. Another unusual fact of Danny was its extended northeast track through the Gulf of Mexico, a rare occurrence in the middle of July, and was caused due to two high pressure systems.
Danny is noted for the extreme rainfall, tornadoes, and damage it produced on its path, causing four direct fatalities and $100 million (1997 USD, $125.69 million 2006 USD) in damage. $5 million (1997 USD, $6.28 million 2006 USD) in damage resulted in Louisiana. $63 million (1997 USD, $79.18 million 2006 USD) in property and crop damage resulted in Alabama. Elsewhere it caused less then $32 million (1997 USD, $40.22 million 2006 USD) in property and crop damage. The storm dropped a record rainfall for Alabama, 36.71 inches (932 mm) on Dauphin Island. Flooding, power outages, and erosion occurred in many areas of the Gulf Coast, and rescues from flooded roads had to be performed. Most of the damage on the East Coast was from various tornadoes that caused damage on the ground. The storm moved across the southeastern United States, after making landfall in the Gulf Coast, and impacted parts of Massachusetts with rain and wind.