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All storm pages · 2020 Atlantic season

Hurricane Laura 2020

Category 4 hurricane · Atlantic · August 20 to August 29, 2020

Laura's 150 mph landfall in Louisiana on August 27, 2020 ranks tied for the strongest of the 98 storms with a landfall record there. It has landfall records in 5 different places: Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Louisiana. Its winds climbed 65 mph in the 24 hours to August 27. The name Laura is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Laura (2020) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°WLittle RockAntigua and Barbuda, 45 mphSaint Kitts and Nevis, 45 mphDominican Republic, 50 mphCuba, 65 mphLouisiana, 150 mphPeak 150 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 400 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Laura (2020) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160Aug 21Aug 22Aug 23Aug 24Aug 25Aug 26Aug 27Aug 28Aug 29mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) 795 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  2. Tropical storm 150 miles east-northeast of Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France
  3. Landfall Antigua and Barbuda: tropical storm, 45 mph, 1007 mb
  4. Landfall Saint Kitts and Nevis: tropical storm, 45 mph, 1007 mb
  5. Landfall Dominican Republic: tropical storm, 50 mph, 1004 mb
  6. Landfall Cuba: tropical storm, 65 mph, 1000 mb
  7. Landfall Cuba: tropical storm, 65 mph, 998 mb
  8. Hurricane 155 miles north-northeast of Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico
  9. Major hurricane 225 miles south of Houma, Louisiana
  10. Peak, 150 mph 110 miles south-southeast of Port Arthur, Texas; lowest pressure 937 mb
  11. Landfall Louisiana
  12. No longer tropical (low) 10 miles north-northeast of Frankfort, Kentucky
  13. Last record 10 miles north-northeast of Frankfort, Kentucky

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind150 mph · tied 57th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure937 mb · tied 91st of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy12.9 · 416th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone9.0 days · tied 337th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 2020 season

04080120160Laura

Storm 13 of 31 in 2020, hurricane 4 of 14; it formed after Kyle and before Marco. Laura produced 7% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy and ranks joint second by peak wind. 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
Little Rock, Arkansas0 mi35 mphAugust 28
Pinar del Rio, Cuba1 mi65 mphAugust 25
Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda1 mi45 mphAugust 21
San Cristóbal, the Dominican Republic1 mi50 mphAugust 23
Poplar Bluff, Missouri3 mi30 mphAugust 28
Lake Charles, Louisiana5 mi130 mphAugust 27
Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, the Dominican Republic6 mi50 mphAugust 23
Azua, the Dominican Republic8 mi50 mphAugust 23

Every storm within 50 miles of Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, the Dominican Republic

Similar landfalls in Louisiana

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Louisiana came closest to Laura's 150 mph:

All 98 storms with a landfall record in Louisiana

Also peaked at 150 mph

Of 26 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Ida (2021)929 mb, landfall in Cuba
  • Florence (2018)937 mb, landfall in North Carolina
  • Franklin (2023)926 mb, landfall in Dominican Republic
  • Kirk (2024)928 mb, no landfall record