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All storm pages · 2016 Atlantic season

Hurricane Otto 2016

Category 3 hurricane · Atlantic · November 20 to November 26, 2016

Otto came ashore in Nicaragua as a Category 3 hurricane on November 24, 2016, with 115 mph winds. With a peak of 115 mph, it ranked the fourth-strongest of the 16 storms of the 2016 season. It produced 6% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy. The name Otto is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Otto (2016, Atlantic) from the best-track record, coloured by strength10°N95°W90°W85°W80°WQuesadaNicaragua, 115 mphPeak 115 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 300 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Otto (2016, Atlantic) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 404080120Nov 18Nov 19Nov 20Nov 21Nov 22Nov 23Nov 24Nov 25Nov 26mph
  1. First record (low) 65 miles east of San Andrés, Colombia
  2. Tropical storm 140 miles north-northeast of Colón, Panama
  3. Hurricane 100 miles south-southeast of San Andrés, Colombia
  4. Major hurricane 70 miles north of Limón, Costa Rica
  5. Peak 70 miles north of Limón, Costa Rica; lowest pressure 975 mb
  6. Landfall Nicaragua
  7. Last record (tropical depression) 375 miles south-southwest of San Jose, Escuintla, Guatemala

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind115 mph · tied 281st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure975 mb · tied 425th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy8.3 · 606th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone5.8 days · tied 733rd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

In the 2016 season

04080120160200Otto

Storm 16 of 16 in 2016, hurricane 7 of 7; it formed after Nicole. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of 4 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
Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica8 mi70 mphNovember 25
San Carlos, Nicaragua, Nicaragua19 mi80 mphNovember 24
Cañas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica27 mi75 mphNovember 25
Quesada, Alajuela, Costa Rica42 mi85 mphNovember 24

Every storm within 50 miles of Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Similar landfalls in Nicaragua

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Nicaragua came closest to Otto's 115 mph:

  • Otto (2016, Pacific)115 mph, November 24, 2016
  • Beta (2005)105 mph, October 30, 2005
  • Eta (2020)140 mph, November 3, 2020
  • Julia (2022, Atlantic)85 mph, October 9, 2022

All 27 storms with a landfall record in Nicaragua

Also peaked at 115 mph

Of 64 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time:

  • Lee (2017)962 mb, no landfall record
  • Ophelia (2017)959 mb, landfall in Ireland
  • Michael (2012)964 mb, no landfall record
  • Sandy (2012)940 mb, landfall in Jamaica