The 1989 season

Super Typhoon Elsie (1989)

Super Typhoon Elsie reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 13, 1989 and October 22, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Elsie, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 13, 1989 to October 22, 1989
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
22.0
Fastest the center moved
16 kt (18 mph)
Identifier
WP301989

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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 13, 00:0014.0N 137.0E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0014.7N 136.1E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0015.3N 135.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0016.1N 133.7E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0016.4N 132.2E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0016.3N 131.8E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0016.2N 131.6E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0016.2N 131.4E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0016.1N 131.2E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0016.1N 130.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0016.1N 130.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0016.1N 130.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0016.2N 130.6E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0016.5N 130.3E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0016.7N 130.0E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0016.9N 129.4E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0016.9N 128.8E110 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0016.9N 128.1E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0016.7N 127.5E125 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0016.4N 126.9E125 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0016.1N 126.4E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0016.1N 125.7E130 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0016.2N 124.9E130 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0016.4N 124.1E140 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0016.6N 122.9E140 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0016.7N 121.5E80 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0016.8N 119.9E60 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 18:0016.8N 118.4E55 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 00:0016.9N 117.1E55 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 06:0016.9N 116.0E55 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 12:0017.0N 114.8E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 20, 18:0017.2N 113.7E55 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 00:0017.5N 112.5E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 06:0017.8N 111.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 12:0018.2N 109.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 21, 18:0018.3N 108.5E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 00:0018.3N 107.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 06:0018.3N 105.9E35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 22, 12:0018.3N 104.5E25 kt1012 mbTropical storm

Other Western Pacific storms of 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.