The 2020 season

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.

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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)WherePositionWindPressure
Oct 3, 16:45Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 7 km away20.2N 87.4W65 kt (75 mph)978 mb
Oct 6, 03:00Tizimín, Yucatan, Mexico, 57 km away21.6N 88.4W30 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 areaDeathsInjuriesDamageEvents
Gulf of Mexico004

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).

StationTotalPosition
Hobe Sound 0.6 WNW15.20 in (386 mm)27.08N 80.15W
PORT ST LUCIE 7 E13.41 in (341 mm)27.28N 80.23W
Jensen Beach 1.5 N12.67 in (322 mm)27.26N 80.23W
Jensen Beach 1.4 N11.80 in (300 mm)27.26N 80.24W
Port St. Lucie 4.0 NE11.64 in (296 mm)27.32N 80.31W
Stuart 5.9 SSE11.54 in (293 mm)27.12N 80.20W
Stuart 1.0 ESE11.36 in (289 mm)27.19N 80.23W
FORT PIERCE10.60 in (269 mm)27.46N 80.35W
Fort Pierce 2.8 SSE10.54 in (268 mm)27.39N 80.33W
JUNO BEACH 1S10.53 in (267 mm)26.86N 80.06W
Vero Beach South 2.4 WNW10.02 in (255 mm)27.63N 80.45W
Lake Worth 0.5 ESE9.71 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.

WindHowWhereStateTime (UTC)
35 kt (40 mph)Measured1.74 SE of BIG COPPITT KEYGulf of MexicoOct 4, 12:44
35 kt (40 mph)Measured.33 SE of SAND KEY LIGHTGulf of MexicoOct 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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 2, 00:0016.6N 83.3W30 kt1006 mbLow
Oct 2, 06:0017.2N 83.9W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Oct 2, 12:0017.8N 84.4W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 2, 18:0018.4N 85.0W35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0018.8N 85.8W40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0019.2N 86.6W45 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0019.7N 87.1W55 kt986 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 16:45 landfall20.2N 87.4W65 kt978 mbHurricane
Oct 3, 18:0020.4N 87.5W60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0021.0N 87.9W50 kt991 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0021.8N 88.2W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0022.3N 88.1W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0022.7N 87.7W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0022.9N 87.4W50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0022.8N 87.4W45 kt999 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0022.6N 87.5W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0022.3N 87.9W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 6, 00:0021.9N 88.2W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 6, 03:00 landfall21.6N 88.4W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 6, 06:0021.3N 88.5W30 kt1005 mbTropical depression
Oct 6, 12:0020.6N 88.5W25 kt1007 mbTropical 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.