Tropical Storm Delilah (1989)
Tropical Storm Delilah peaked at 60 kt in the South Pacific between December 28, 1988 and January 8, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Delilah, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1989 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- December 28, 1988 to January 8, 1989
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 975 mb (28.79 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 44 km (27 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 4.5
- Identifier
- SH041989
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 28, 18:00 | 16.7S 148.4E | 20 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 00:00 | 16.8S 148.7E | 20 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 06:00 | 19.0S 147.0E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 12:00 | 18.8S 147.3E | 25 kt | 1002 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 29, 18:00 | 18.7S 147.7E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 00:00 | 18.6S 148.2E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 06:00 | 18.5S 148.5E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 12:00 | 18.4S 149.0E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 30, 18:00 | 18.3S 149.6E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 00:00 | 18.2S 150.1E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 06:00 | 18.0S 151.0E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 12:00 | 17.8S 152.5E | 30 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 31, 18:00 | 17.8S 154.1E | 30 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 00:00 | 17.9S 155.6E | 35 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 06:00 | 18.1S 157.3E | 45 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 12:00 | 18.3S 159.2E | 45 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 1, 18:00 | 18.7S 161.2E | 45 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 00:00 | 19.4S 163.0E | 55 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 06:00 | 20.2S 165.0E | 60 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 12:00 | 21.2S 166.7E | 55 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 2, 18:00 | 22.3S 167.8E | 55 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 00:00 | 23.4S 168.8E | 55 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 06:00 | 24.4S 169.3E | 45 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 12:00 | 25.5S 169.6E | 45 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 3, 18:00 | 26.6S 169.9E | 45 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 4, 00:00 | 27.7S 170.0E | 45 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 4, 06:00 | 29.6S 171.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 4, 12:00 | 30.5S 171.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 4, 18:00 | 31.3S 171.2E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 5, 00:00 | 32.1S 170.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 5, 06:00 | 32.7S 169.8E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 5, 12:00 | 32.7S 169.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 5, 18:00 | 32.4S 169.5E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 6, 00:00 | 32.4S 169.8E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 6, 06:00 | 32.8S 169.8E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 6, 12:00 | 33.1S 169.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 6, 18:00 | 33.4S 169.2E | Not reported | ||
| Jan 7, 00:00 | 33.8S 168.8E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 7, 06:00 | 34.4S 168.3E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 7, 12:00 | 35.2S 168.1E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 7, 18:00 | 36.2S 168.1E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 8, 00:00 | 37.1S 168.3E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 1989
- Tropical Storm EsetaSouth Pacific · 1989
- Tropical Storm FiliSouth Pacific · 1989
- Tropical Storm GinaSouth Pacific · 1989
- Cyclone HarrySouth Pacific · 1989
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1989
- Cyclone HinanoSouth Pacific · 1989
- Cyclone JudySouth Pacific · 1989
- Cyclone IvySouth Pacific · 1989
- Tropical Storm KerrySouth Pacific · 1989
- Cyclone AivuSouth Pacific · 1989
- Cyclone LiliSouth Pacific · 1989
- Tropical Storm MeenaSouth Pacific · 1989
- Tropical Storm ErnieSouth Pacific · 1989
What this means
A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.
Sources
Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.