| Category 4 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
 Hurricane Fay near peak intensity over the central Caribbean Sea on August 25 | |
| Formed | August 20, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | September 3, 2020 |
| (Remnant low after August 31) | |
| Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 145 mph (230 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 938 mbar (hPa); 27.7 inHg |
| Fatalities | 44 direct, 23 indirect |
| Damage | $62.5 billion (USD) |
| Areas affected | Windward Islands (Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Hispaniola, Cuba, Florida Keys, Gulf Coast of the United States (Louisiana), Midwestern United States |
Hurricane Fay was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The sixth named storm, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Fay formed in the deep tropical Atlantic and caused extensive damage to the Windward Islands, eastern Cuba, and Louisiana.
Meteorological history[]
The track of Fay, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
The origins of Hurricane Fay were traced to a tropical wave that exited the coast of west Africa on August 15, 2020. Over the next five days, the large wave moved briskly westward, producing little convective activity due to moderate easterly shear and the presence of Saharan Air Layer to the north. Convection started to increase on August 19 as the disturbance interacted with a Convectively Coupled Kelvin Wave (CCKW), and a small area of low pressure developed. Early on August 20, a scatterometer pass indicated that the disturbance had developed a well-defined circulation, and it is estimated that the disturbance developed into the sixth tropical depression at 12:00 UTC that day. 12 hours later, based on the development of a long convective band to the north of the center, it is estimated that the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Fay. Fay quickly strengthened as the easterly shear relaxed to near zero, strengthening into the third hurricane of the season by 00:00 UTC August 22.
Impact[]
Prior to Fay, Louisiana was still struggling to recover from the 2019-20 Coronavirus pandemic, which had already significantly hurt the state's economy.