NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL312020
400 AM EST Mon Nov 16 2020

Iota has explosively deepened 26 mb during the past 6 hours and has
rapidly intensified an incredible 35 kt during that same time. An
Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft and aircrew that flew the
arduous, 10-hour round-trip mission into Iota reported a maximum
700-mb flight-level wind speed of 134 kt and peak SFMR surface winds
of 121 kt, which supports the initial intensity of 125 kt, making
Iota a strong Category 4 hurricane. Furthermore, the pressure fell
an amazing 10 mb from 945 mb down to 935 mb in a little over an hour
between those two fixes. The crew also encountered intense lightning
and hail in the southwestern quadrant, where recent remote data
indicate that frequent lightning is still occurring. The aircrew
reported that the eye was around 15 n mi wide, and the latest
GOES-16 hi-resolution infrared satellite imagery confirms that the
eye diameter, and that the eye has cleared out with continued
warming eye temperatures and cooling surrounding cloud tops.

1. Iota is expected to continue to rapidly intensify and could
possibly be a catastrophic category 5 hurricane when it approaches
the coast of Central America tonight.