 Hurricane Teddy shortly before peak intensity over the North Atlantic on September 17 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | September 12, 2020 |
| Extratropical | September 23, 2020 |
| Dissipated | September 24, 2020 |
| Category 4 major hurricane | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS/NWS) | |
| Highest winds | 140 mph (220 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 945 mbar (hPa); 27.91 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 3 total |
| Damage | >$35 million (2020 USD) |
| Areas affected | Lesser Antilles, Bermuda, East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Canada, Southern Greenland |
| IBTrACS | |
Part of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Teddy was a large and powerful tropical cyclone that was the fifth-largest Atlantic hurricane by diameter of gale-force winds recorded. Teddy produced large swells along the coast of the Eastern United States and Atlantic Canada in September 2020. The twentieth tropical depression, nineteenth named storm, eighth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Teddy initially formed from a tropical depression that developed from a tropical wave on September 12. Initially, the depression's large size and moderate wind shear kept it from organizing, but it eventually intensified into Tropical Storm Teddy on September 14. After steadily intensifying for about a day, the storm rapidly became a Category 2 hurricane on September 16 before westerly wind shear caused a temporary pause in the intensification trend. It then rapidly intensified again on September 17 and became a Category 4 hurricane. Internal fluctuations and eyewall replacement cycles then caused the storm to fluctuate in intensity before it weakened some as it approached Bermuda. After passing east of the island as a Category 1 hurricane on September 21, Teddy restrengthened back to Category 2 strength due to baroclinic forcing. It weakened again to Category 1 strength the next day before becoming post-tropical as it approached Atlantic Canada early on September 23. It then weakened to a gale-force low and made landfall in Nova Scotia with sustained winds of 65 mph (105 km/h). The system weakened further as it moved northward across eastern Nova Scotia and then the Gulf of St. Lawrence, before being absorbed by a larger non-tropical low early on September 24, near eastern Labrador.
Tropical storm watches and warnings were issued for both Bermuda and Atlantic Canada in preparation for Teddy. Its large size and strength caused high waves and rip currents to impact areas hundreds of miles from its path, ranging from the Lesser and Greater Antilles to the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada. Two people in Puerto Rico drowned from the strong waves while another drowned in New Jersey. Total damage is estimated to be at least $35 million.