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All storm pages · 2020 Atlantic season

Hurricane Iota 2020

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · November 13 to November 18, 2020

Iota's 145 mph landfall in Nicaragua on November 17, 2020 ranks tied for the third-strongest of the 27 storms with a landfall record there. No other storm of the 2020 Atlantic season matched its 155 mph peak; the season had 31 storms. Its winds climbed 75 mph in the 24 hours to November 16. The name Iota is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Iota (2020) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N15°N90°W85°W80°W75°W70°WSan SalvadorNicaragua, 145 mphPeak 155 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Iota (2020) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Nov 13Nov 14Nov 15Nov 16Nov 17Nov 18mph
  1. First record (low) 185 miles south-southeast of Pedernales, the Dominican Republic
  2. Tropical storm 190 miles north-northwest of Riohacha, La Guajira, Colombia
  3. Hurricane 210 miles north-northwest of Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia
  4. Major hurricane 90 miles northeast of San Andrés, Colombia
  5. Peak 65 miles north of San Andrés, Colombia; lowest pressure 917 mb
  6. Landfall Nicaragua
  7. Last record (tropical depression) near Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán, El Salvador

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind155 mph · tied 45th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure917 mb · 22nd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy12.3 · 432nd of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone5.0 days · tied 880th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 2020 season

04080120160Iota

Storm 31 of 31 in 2020, hurricane 14 of 14; it formed after Theta. Iota produced 7% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán, El Salvador1 mi30 mphNovember 18
San Francisco Gotera, Morazán, El Salvador5 mi35 mphNovember 18
San Vicente, El Salvador5 mi30 mphNovember 18
Ocotal, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua10 mi50 mphNovember 17
Sensuntepeque, Cabañas, El Salvador10 mi35 mphNovember 18
San Salvador, El Salvador14 mi30 mphNovember 18
Zacatecoluca, La Paz, El Salvador14 mi30 mphNovember 18
Nacaome, Valle, Honduras19 mi40 mphNovember 18

Every storm within 50 miles of San Salvador, El Salvador

Similar landfalls in Nicaragua

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Nicaragua came closest to Iota's 145 mph:

All 27 storms with a landfall record in Nicaragua

Also peaked at 155 mph

Of 11 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: