Hurricane Laura was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that is tied with the 1856 Last Island hurricane for the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana in terms of maximum sustained winds. The twelfth named storm, fourth hurricane, and first major storm on the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Laura formed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of West Africa on August 16, and formed into a tropical depression by August 20. On August 21, Laura strengthened into a tropical storm, becoming the earliest twelfth named storm, and breaking 1995's Hurricane Luis's record by eight days.