The 2020 season

Tropical Storm Alpha (2020)

Tropical Storm Alpha peaked at 60 kt in the North Atlantic between September 14, 2020 and September 19, 2020, with a lowest pressure of 992 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Alpha, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2020 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 14, 2020 to September 19, 2020
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
992 mb (29.29 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
0.0
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
270 nmi (500 km, 311 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
90 nmi (167 km, 104 mi)
Overall size
240 nmi (444 km, 276 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Peak gust in the best track
55 kt (63 mph)
Fastest the center moved
20 kt (23 mph)
Identifier
AL242020

Deaths and damage

The sources count different things and are not added together.

National Hurricane Center

0 direct deathsnone recorded in the United States

The season table in NHC’s report archive, final report. Direct deaths are those caused by the storm’s own wind, water or surge, anywhere in the world.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 18, 18:40Figueira da Foz, Coimbra, Portugal, 17 km away40.0N 8.9W45 kt (52 mph)996 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 14, 12:0047.2N 22.0W40 kt1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 14, 18:0047.2N 22.2W50 kt996 mbExtratropical
Sep 15, 00:0047.0N 22.4W60 kt992 mbExtratropical
Sep 15, 06:0046.0N 22.5W60 kt994 mbExtratropical
Sep 15, 12:0045.0N 22.1W50 kt996 mbExtratropical
Sep 15, 18:0043.9N 21.4W45 kt998 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 00:0042.9N 20.5W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 06:0041.9N 19.8W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 12:0040.9N 19.5W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 16, 18:0039.9N 19.3W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 00:0038.9N 18.9W35 kt1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 17, 06:0038.3N 18.1W35 kt1002 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0037.7N 17.3W35 kt1002 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0036.7N 15.6W40 kt999 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0036.7N 13.1W45 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0037.9N 11.4W45 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0038.9N 10.3W45 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0039.9N 9.1W45 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 18, 18:40 landfall40.0N 8.9W45 kt996 mbSubtropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0040.6N 7.6W30 kt1004 mbSubtropical depression

Other North Atlantic storms of 2020

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.