However, the record was eventually broken with the tenth named storm to make landfall in the continental United States with Hurricane Zeta, and the eleventh named storm on November 8th with Tropical Storm Eta. This, coupled with the debris in the drainage ditches, caused significant flooding, especially in the flood pronged areas.ĭelta was the ninth named storm of the year to make landfall in the continental United States, tied with 1916. However, the biggest problem came with Delta’s large circulation and rain shield dropping 12 to 18 inches of rainfall across portions of Southeast and Central Louisiana.

The hurricane force winds blew some of this debris from the piles. Other significant problems arose with the extent of tree and structural debris placed on the side of the roadways, and in many cases, the drainage ditches. Many buildings that had roof or structural damage caused by Hurricane Laura still had temporary tarping, which was ripped off by the hurricane force winds of Delta. With Southwest Louisiana still in recovery after Major Hurricane Laura, the winds and rainfall from Delta further delayed the recovery efforts, and in many cases, caused significant additional damage to homes and businesses. Click here for additional track data for Hurricane Delta. Delta weakened to a tropical storm by 1 AM CDT on October 10 th while the center of circulation was just southeast of Alexandria, Louisiana. However, Delta’s wind field expanded somewhat, extending the period of hurricane force winds from Southeast Texas to South Central Louisiana that evening. Just before and during landfall, increasing wind shear and baroclinic forcing had degraded the circulation on satellite and radar, weakening to a category 1 hurricane by 7 PM that evening. Delta was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane by 1 PM CDT as it turned north-northeastward towards Cameron Parish Louisiana.ĭelta made landfall near Creole, Louisiana with winds of 100 mph (85 knots) and a pressure of 970 millibars (28.64 inches) at 6 PM CDT October 9 th, which was 12 miles east of where Hurricane Laura made landfall six weeks earlier. As Delta continued north heading for Southwest Louisiana, drier air and increasing southwesterly wind shear caused Delta to begin a slow weakening trend. Delta reached a secondary peak intensity of 120 mph (105 knots) and minimum central pressure of 953 millibars (28.14 inches) the evening of October 8th through early on October 9 th over the Western Gulf of Mexico. Delta turned to the north and regained category 3 intensity by the afternoon of October 8 th. Delta further weakened to a category 1 hurricane over land and emerged across the Southern Gulf of Mexico.ĭelta continued to move northwest and began to intensify over the open Gulf of Mexico along with its circulation expanding. Continuing to move northwestward, Delta weakened to a category 2 hurricane by the time it made landfall across the Northeast Yucatán Peninsula early on October 7 th. Delta, with its small circulation, continued its extremely rapid intensification, reaching category 4 intensity with sustained winds of 140 mph (120 knots) by the afternoon of October 6 th across the Northwestern Caribbean Sea. Just after daybreak on October 5 th, Tropical Depression Twenty-six strengthened into Tropical Storm Delta, and quickly strengthened into a hurricane by that evening.

By the afternoon of October 4 th, the system became better organized, closed off a low-level circulation, and subsequently the National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories on Tropical Depression Twenty-six.

Above: GOES 16 GeoColor Satellite Image of Hurricane Delta at 2201 UTC (5:01 PM CDT) on October 9, 2020.ĭelta began as a tropical wave across Eastern Caribbean Sea on October 1 st.

Delta tracker