Hurricane Iota (2020)
Hurricane Iota reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between November 12, 2020 and November 18, 2020, with a lowest pressure of 917 mb, and made landfall. It killed 67 people directly, by the National Hurricane Center’s count.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Iota, 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
- November 12, 2020 to November 18, 2020
- Peak strength
- Category 4, 135 kt (155 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 917 mb (27.08 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 12.3
- Tropical-storm-force wind reached
- 200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) from the center at its widest
- Hurricane-force wind reached
- 40 nmi (74 km, 46 mi) from the center at its widest
- Eyewall radius at its peak
- 10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi)
- Overall size
- 270 nmi (500 km, 311 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
- Peak gust in the best track
- 170 kt (196 mph)
- Fastest the center moved
- 12 kt (14 mph)
- Identifier
- AL312020
Deaths and damage
The sources count different things and are not added together.
National Hurricane Center
67 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) | Where | Position | Wind | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 03:40 | Puerto Cabezas, North Caribbean Coast, Nicaragua, 50 km away | 13.6N 83.5W | 125 kt (144 mph) | 922 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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 12, 12:00 | 15.5N 70.9W | 25 kt | 1009 mb | Low |
| Nov 12, 18:00 | 15.3N 71.9W | 25 kt | 1009 mb | Low |
| Nov 13, 00:00 | 15.0N 72.7W | 25 kt | 1008 mb | Low |
| Nov 13, 06:00 | 14.7N 73.3W | 25 kt | 1007 mb | Low |
| Nov 13, 12:00 | 14.4N 73.7W | 30 kt | 1006 mb | Tropical depression |
| Nov 13, 18:00 | 14.0N 74.1W | 35 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 14, 00:00 | 13.6N 74.5W | 35 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 14, 06:00 | 13.3N 75.0W | 35 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 14, 12:00 | 12.9N 75.7W | 40 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 14, 18:00 | 12.5N 76.4W | 45 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 15, 00:00 | 12.6N 76.7W | 55 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 15, 06:00 | 13.0N 77.1W | 65 kt | 988 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 15, 12:00 | 13.1N 78.0W | 70 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 15, 18:00 | 13.2N 78.9W | 75 kt | 974 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 16, 00:00 | 13.2N 79.8W | 90 kt | 961 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 16, 06:00 | 13.4N 80.7W | 120 kt | 935 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 16, 12:00 | 13.5N 81.5W | 135 kt | 917 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 16, 18:00 | 13.5N 82.3W | 130 kt | 918 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 17, 00:00 | 13.6N 83.0W | 130 kt | 918 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 17, 03:40 landfall | 13.6N 83.5W | 125 kt | 922 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 17, 06:00 | 13.7N 83.8W | 110 kt | 935 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 17, 12:00 | 13.7N 84.7W | 75 kt | 965 mb | Hurricane |
| Nov 17, 18:00 | 13.7N 85.7W | 55 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 18, 00:00 | 13.8N 86.7W | 40 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 18, 06:00 | 13.8N 87.8W | 35 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Nov 18, 12:00 | 13.7N 89.0W | 25 kt | 1006 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 GammaNorth Atlantic · 2020 · 6 deaths
- 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
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.