Hurricane Iota

November 20, 2020 Reference

Hurricane Iota, which hit the Central American country Nicaragua, killed at least six people and more than 60,000 people were evacuated. It made huge landfalls in several parts of the country. Hurricane Iota is the latest known Atlantic hurricane ever to attain Category 5 intensity. Also, it is the only second Category 5 Atlantic hurricane to occur in the month of November. The first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane was the 1932 Cuba hurricane

Key Points

  • Another Category 4 storm named ‘Eta’ hit the same region and made landfall two weeks earlier, which killed scores of people and caused widespread destruction.
  • For the first time on record, there were two major Atlantic hurricanes to have formed during November.
  • As per the Meteorologists, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, running from June to November, is the most active in history.
  • There have been 30 named storms and 13 hurricanes in the six-month period including six storms with the potential to cause significant loss of life and damage. Scientists believe that the climate crisis is the reason for the recording-breaking number of storms.

What is a hurricane?

A tropical cyclone is a swiftly rotating storm having a low-pressure center, strong winds, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms producing heavy rains. Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 39 miles per hour are called tropical depressions and those with maximum sustained winds of 39 mph or higher are called tropical storms. When the maximum sustained winds of a storm reach 74 mph, it is called a hurricane.

What is Category 5 Atlantic hurricane?

The intensity of a hurricane is measured by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale of 1 to 5 rating, or category. The category is defined is based on the maximum sustained winds of a hurricane. The higher the category, the greater is the potential of the hurricane for damage. Thus, a Category 5 hurricane is the highest category of the storm on the SaffirSimpson scale.