Hurricane Gamma (2020)
Hurricane Gamma reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 2, 2020 and October 6, 2020, with a lowest pressure of 978 mb, and made landfall. It killed 6 people directly, by the National Hurricane Center’s count.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Gamma, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- October 2, 2020 to October 6, 2020
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 978 mb (28.88 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 2.8
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 150 nmi (278 km, 173 mi) from the center at its widest
- Hurricane-force wind reached
- 15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 15 nmi (28 km, 17 mi)
- Overall size
- 160 nmi (296 km, 184 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 75 kt (86 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 9 kt (10 mph)
- Identifier
- AL252020
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
National Hurricane Center
6 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.
NOAA Storm Events
0 deaths (0 direct, 0 indirect)none recorded
What National Weather Service offices recorded county by county in 1 states and marine areas, in the United States only. Property and crop damage as each office estimated it, which is not a national loss total.
Landfalls
| Time (UTC) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 16:45 | Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 7 km away | 20.2N 87.4W | 65 kt (75 mph) | 978 mb |
| Oct 6, 03:00 | Tizimín, Yucatan, Mexico, 57 km away | 21.6N 88.4W | 30 kt (35 mph) | 1005 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.
In the United States
NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.
- Deaths
- 0 (0 direct, 0 indirect)
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- none recorded
- Crop damage
- none recorded
- Events recorded
- 4 in 1 reports from 1 states and marine areas
State by state
| State or marine area | Deaths | Injuries | Damage | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf of Mexico | 0 | 0 | 4 |
What was recorded
4 marine thunderstorm wind.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,106 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 15.20 inches (386 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Hobe Sound 0.6 WNW | 15.20 in (386 mm) | 27.08N 80.15W |
| PORT ST LUCIE 7 E | 13.41 in (341 mm) | 27.28N 80.23W |
| Jensen Beach 1.5 N | 12.67 in (322 mm) | 27.26N 80.23W |
| Jensen Beach 1.4 N | 11.80 in (300 mm) | 27.26N 80.24W |
| Port St. Lucie 4.0 NE | 11.64 in (296 mm) | 27.32N 80.31W |
| Stuart 5.9 SSE | 11.54 in (293 mm) | 27.12N 80.20W |
| Stuart 1.0 ESE | 11.36 in (289 mm) | 27.19N 80.23W |
| FORT PIERCE | 10.60 in (269 mm) | 27.46N 80.35W |
| Fort Pierce 2.8 SSE | 10.54 in (268 mm) | 27.39N 80.33W |
| JUNO BEACH 1S | 10.53 in (267 mm) | 26.86N 80.06W |
| Vero Beach South 2.4 WNW | 10.02 in (255 mm) | 27.63N 80.45W |
| Lake Worth 0.5 ESE | 9.71 in (247 mm) | 26.62N 80.05W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Wind reports
The strongest winds National Weather Service offices recorded with this storm. An estimated figure is a forecaster’s judgment from the damage, not an instrument reading.
| Wind | How | Where | State | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 kt (40 mph) | Measured | 1.74 SE of BIG COPPITT KEY | Gulf of Mexico | Oct 4, 12:44 |
| 35 kt (40 mph) | Measured | .33 SE of SAND KEY LIGHT | Gulf of Mexico | Oct 4, 05:10 |
What forecast offices wrote
From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.
A south-southeast wind gust of 35 knots was measured at the Naval Air Station Key West ASOS at Boca Chica Field as a thunderstorm passed.
Hawk Channel From West End of Seven Mile Bridge To Halfmoon Shoal Out To The Reef, Gulf of Mexico · Marine Thunderstorm Wind · Oct 4, 12:44 UTC
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 00:00 | 16.6N 83.3W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Low |
| Oct 2, 06:00 | 17.2N 83.9W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 2, 12:00 | 17.8N 84.4W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 2, 18:00 | 18.4N 85.0W | 35 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 3, 00:00 | 18.8N 85.8W | 40 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 3, 06:00 | 19.2N 86.6W | 45 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 3, 12:00 | 19.7N 87.1W | 55 kt | 986 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 3, 16:45 landfall | 20.2N 87.4W | 65 kt | 978 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 3, 18:00 | 20.4N 87.5W | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 00:00 | 21.0N 87.9W | 50 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 06:00 | 21.8N 88.2W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 12:00 | 22.3N 88.1W | 50 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 4, 18:00 | 22.7N 87.7W | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 00:00 | 22.9N 87.4W | 50 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 06:00 | 22.8N 87.4W | 45 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 12:00 | 22.6N 87.5W | 40 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 5, 18:00 | 22.3N 87.9W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 6, 00:00 | 21.9N 88.2W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 6, 03:00 landfall | 21.6N 88.4W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 6, 06:00 | 21.3N 88.5W | 30 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical depression |
| Oct 6, 12:00 | 20.6N 88.5W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical depression |
Other North Atlantic storms of 2020
- Tropical Storm ArthurNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm BerthaNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm CristobalNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 6 deaths · $310 million
- Tropical Storm DollyNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm EdouardNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm FayNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 2 deaths · $220 million
- Tropical Storm GonzaloNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Hurricane HannaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 4 deaths · $1.1 billion
- Hurricane IsaiasNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 12 deaths · $5.0 billion
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm JosephineNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm KyleNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Hurricane LauraNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 47 deaths · $19 billion
- Hurricane MarcoNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm OmarNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Hurricane NanaNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm ReneNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Hurricane PauletteNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 2 deaths
- Hurricane SallyNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 4 deaths · $7.3 billion
- Hurricane TeddyNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 2 deaths · $20 million
- Tropical Storm VickyNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm AlphaNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm WilfredNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Tropical Storm BetaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · $225 million
- Hurricane DeltaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 2 deaths · $2.9 billion
- Hurricane EpsilonNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 1 death
- Hurricane ZetaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 5 deaths · $4.4 billion
- Hurricane EtaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 172 deaths · $1.5 billion
- Tropical Storm ThetaNorth Atlantic · 2020
- Hurricane IotaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 67 deaths
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.