User:Destroyeraa/Meteorological history of Hurricane Eta
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The lifetime of Hurricane Eta lasted for 14 days. The disturbance that would become Eta originated from two tropical waves. On October 29, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) began monitoring the waves as they merged together in the Eastern Caribbean. The system steadily organized and on October 31, it was designated Tropical Depression Twenty-Nine. On November 1, based on satellite intensity estimates, the depression became Tropical Storm Eta. Eta rapidly intensified later that day, reaching hurricane status by November 2 as it slowed down. Rapid intensification continued, and Eta intensified into a Category 4 hurricane at 21:00 UTC the next day. Eta developed a clear pinhole eye, and simultaneously reached its peak intensity of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a pressure of 923 mbar (27.26 inHg) at 06:00 UTC on November 3. Later, the storm began an eyewall replacement cycle, which caused it to weaken gradually. It completed the cycle just as it made landfall at 21:00 UTC south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a pressure of 940 mbar (27.73 inHg). Eta rapidly weakened over land while moving slowly westward, and was downgraded to a tropical storm on November 4. The next day, Eta weakened to a tropical depression, and its low-level circulation center became very poorly defined.
Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Formed | October 31, 2020 |
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Dissipated | November 14, 2020 |
(Extratropical after November 13) | |
Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 150 mph (240 km/h) |
Lowest pressure | 923 mbar (hPa); 27.26 inHg |
Areas affected | Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize, El Salvador, Panama, Mexico, Cuba, The Bahamas, Western Florida, East Coast of the United States |
Part of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Late on November 6, Eta re-emerged into the Western Caribbean Sea near Belize. The next day, Eta became a tropical storm again due to a center reformation. Despite encountering strong wind shear, the storm continued to strengthen and had sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) and a pressure of 991 mbar (29.27 inHg) by November 8. Eta held its strength before making landfall in Cuba's Sancti Spíritus Province at 09:00 UTC. Early on November 9, Eta made its third landfall on the Lower Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys at the same intensity as its Cuban landfall. Due to a large amount of dry air, Eta's low-level center became exposed and convection dwindled. Eta was eventually able to repel the dry air, and it began re-strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico. As the storm meandered off the Western Cuban coast, its center then reformed under its convective mass and became better organized as it executed a counter-clockwise loop and approached the west coast of Florida. On November 11, Eta restrengthened back into a minimal hurricane as an eye feature appeared on microwave radar images. However, another onrush of dry air rapidly eroded its structure and caused its eye feature to dissipate, weakening Eta back to tropical storm strength a few hours after it attained hurricane intensity. The system turned further east and made landfall near Cedar Key, Florida at 09:20 UTC on November 12, possessing winds of 50 mph (85 km/h). The storm further degraded and weakened over land as it accelerated north-northeastward, eventually emerging over the waters of the Atlantic near the Florida/Georgia border at 18:00 UTC. It fluctuated in intensity as it became extratropical early on November 13.