Continuing west because of a ridge, Eta slowly organized throughout the day as cold convection began to form on top of its center. After barely holding onto tropical storm strength for 15 hours, Eta began to intensify quickly, reaching hurricane status at 09:00 UTC on November 2. Six hours later, the storm turned into a high-end Category 2 hurricane as a tiny eye became apparent in satellite imagery. Eta then reached Category 3 status at 18:00 UTC before becoming a Category 4 hurricane three hours later, with lots of lightning being observed in its eyewall. Eta begun to slow down and turn west-southwestward because of a ridge over the United States. At 03:00 UTC on November 3, a airplane found the system still intensifying quickly with winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a pressure of 927 mbar as it still slowed. According to the NHC, Eta maintained its peak winds as it reached its lowest pressure of 923 mbar at 06:00 UTC, marking its peak intensity as a strong Category 4 hurricane. "The Washington Post" said that several experts thought Eta peaked as a Category 5 hurricane based on satellite imagery as well as a lack of aircraft due to several issues. Still in a in a good location, Eta began to weaken six hours after its peak because of an eyewall replacement cycle, which it completed as it made landfall at 21:00 UTC south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, with winds of 140 mph (225 km/h) and a pressure of 940 mbar. Land caused Eta to rapidly weaken as it moved slowly west after landfall with its eye disappearing and its convection weakening. It fell below major hurricane status just three hours after landfall at 00:00 UTC on November 4. Eta continued to weaken rapidly, dropping to tropical storm status at 09:00 UTC, and to a tropical depression at 00:00 UTC on November 5.