A stationary front began over the central Caribbean Sea, leading to severe floods that over two weeks killed dozens of people in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.

A stationary front is a weather front or transition zone between two air masses when each air mass is advancing into the other at speeds less than 5 knots at the ground surface. These fronts are typically depicted on weather maps as a solid line with alternating blue spikes and red domes.

Floods killed 50 people in Jamaica in 1986, comparable to flooding that occurred in June 1979. The floods originated as a stationary front on May 24 that produced rainfall across much of the central Caribbean Sea for two weeks. Rainfall totals in Jamaica reached 635 mm (25.0 in) at Norman Manley International Airport. The flooding left heavy agriculture damage totaling $22.5 million, and 40,000 residents per day received meals after the event. Roads and bridges were damaged across the country, and one damaged bridge resulted in eight deaths after a bus crashed. The floods left 2,000 Jamaicans homeless.