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Hurricane Isaias (2020)

Hurricane Isaias was a Category 1 hurricane at its peak, with 92 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 986 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 13 of the cities we track; the strongest was Myrtle Beach, SC, with a modeled peak gust of 69 mph.

Peak strength92 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 1
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
13
LandfallsFirst July 30, 2020
4
Lowest pressure
986 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Isaias’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. July 30, 2020, tropical storm at 63 mph, in the Dominican Republic
  2. July 31, 2020, Category 1 at 81 mph, in the Bahamas
  3. August 1, 2020, Category 1 at 81 mph, in the Bahamas
  4. August 4, 2020, Category 1 at 92 mph, about 26 miles from Myrtle Beach, SC

Modeled winds at cities (13)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Myrtle Beach, SC69 mph57 mph15 milesAug 3, 2020, 10:45 PM EDT
Wilmington, NC66 mph54 mph28 milesAug 3, 2020, 11:55 PM EDT
Trenton, NJ65 mph53 mph34 milesAug 4, 2020, 1:00 PM EDT
Poughkeepsie, NY61 mph49 mph31 milesAug 4, 2020, 3:15 PM EDT
Philadelphia, PA60 mph49 mph22 milesAug 4, 2020, 11:45 AM EDT
New York, NY60 mph49 mph62 milesAug 4, 2020, 2:15 PM EDT
Allentown, PA60 mph49 mph11 milesAug 4, 2020, 12:45 PM EDT
Albany, NY59 mph48 mph8 milesAug 4, 2020, 5:00 PM EDT
Atlantic City, NJ58 mph48 mph72 milesAug 4, 2020, 12:00 PM EDT
Virginia Beach, VA58 mph47 mph63 milesAug 4, 2020, 6:45 AM EDT
Bridgeport, CT52 mph42 mph80 milesAug 4, 2020, 3:15 PM EDT
Waterbury, CT51 mph41 mph76 milesAug 4, 2020, 4:00 PM EDT
New Haven, CT49 mph39 mph89 milesAug 4, 2020, 3:30 PM EDT

What happened

Isaias made landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, at 11:10 p.m. EDT on August 3, 2020, as a Category 1 hurricane with 80-knot (92 mph) winds and a central pressure of 986 mb.1 It weakened to a tropical storm within hours but held 55 to 60 knots (63 to 69 mph) as it moved north through the Mid-Atlantic states and New York on August 4.1

Surge flooding reached 3 to 6 feet above ground along the southern North Carolina coast and South Carolina's Grand Strand, highest at around 6 feet in Brunswick County.1 In Myrtle Beach, 483 properties were damaged, and low-lying homes near the beach in Horry County flooded.1 Up to 3 feet of surge heavily damaged waterfront shops in Southport, and surge up the Cape Fear River flooded downtown Wilmington streets and damaged some first-floor businesses.1,2 Gusts reached 86 knots (99 mph) at Federal Point and 76 knots (87 mph) at Oak Island, North Carolina, and 70 knots (81 mph) at Egg Harbor, New Jersey.1

Isaias produced 39 tornadoes from South Carolina to Connecticut.1 An EF3 near Windsor in Bertie County, North Carolina, destroyed several mobile homes and site-built houses and killed two people.1 EF2 tornadoes damaged numerous homes and businesses in Courtland, Virginia, tore roofs and walls along a 35.5-mile path from Dover into New Castle County, Delaware, and stripped roofs and siding from homes in Philadelphia's northeastern suburbs.1 Rain of 4 to 7 inches, locally more than 8 inches, in eastern Pennsylvania caused severe flash flooding, and Little Lehigh Creek at Allentown and Perkiomen Creek at Graterford rose to record levels.1 NHC counts 10 direct deaths in the continental US. NCEI puts US damage, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, at about $4.8 billion, nearly $3.5 billion of it in the Northeast.1

Sources

  1. 1. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Isaias (AL092020)
  2. 2. NWS Wilmington, NC: Hurricane Isaias: August 3-4, 2020

Best track (36 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Jul 28, 12:00 UTCDisturbance40 mph1007 mb12.5°N, 54.0°W
Jul 28, 18:00 UTCDisturbance40 mph1006 mb13.2°N, 56.4°W
Jul 29, 00:00 UTCDisturbance46 mph1005 mb14.1°N, 58.3°W
Jul 29, 06:00 UTCDisturbance46 mph1005 mb14.8°N, 60.3°W
Jul 29, 12:00 UTCDisturbance46 mph1005 mb15.2°N, 62.2°W
Jul 29, 18:00 UTCDisturbance46 mph1005 mb15.3°N, 64.0°W
Jul 30, 00:00 UTCTropical storm52 mph1004 mb15.8°N, 65.7°W
Jul 30, 06:00 UTCTropical storm58 mph1003 mb16.7°N, 67.2°W
Jul 30, 12:00 UTCTropical storm63 mph1002 mb17.7°N, 68.5°W
Jul 30, 16:15 UTC (landfall)Tropical storm63 mph1002 mb18.4°N, 69.3°W
Jul 30, 18:00 UTCTropical storm69 mph999 mb18.9°N, 69.8°W
Jul 31, 00:00 UTCCategory 1 hurricane75 mph996 mb19.9°N, 71.2°W
Show all 36