Tropical Storm Ernie (1989)
Tropical Storm Ernie peaked at 35 kt in the South Pacific between May 6, 1989 and May 13, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 997 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Ernie, 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
- May 6, 1989 to May 13, 1989
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 35 kt (40 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 997 mb (29.44 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 134 km (83 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.2
- Identifier
- SH281989
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 00:00 | 12.9S 177.8E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 6, 06:00 | 12.9S 176.2E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 6, 12:00 | 13.0S 174.7E | 20 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 6, 18:00 | 12.7S 173.0E | 25 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 00:00 | 12.5S 171.4E | 25 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 06:00 | 12.4S 169.9E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 12:00 | 12.3S 168.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 7, 18:00 | 12.4S 167.3E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 8, 00:00 | 12.2S 166.1E | 35 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 8, 06:00 | 11.9S 164.9E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 8, 12:00 | 11.7S 163.7E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 8, 18:00 | 11.9S 162.4E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 9, 00:00 | 12.4S 161.3E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 9, 06:00 | 12.6S 160.1E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 9, 12:00 | 12.8S 158.7E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 9, 18:00 | 12.8S 157.1E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 10, 00:00 | 12.8S 155.5E | 25 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 06:00 | 12.7S 153.9E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 12:00 | 12.5S 152.6E | 25 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 10, 18:00 | 12.4S 151.5E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 00:00 | 12.3S 151.0E | 25 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 06:00 | 12.5S 150.8E | 30 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 12:00 | 12.7S 150.7E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 11, 18:00 | 12.7S 150.6E | 30 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 12, 00:00 | 12.8S 150.4E | 30 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 12, 06:00 | 12.6S 150.2E | 30 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 12, 12:00 | 12.3S 149.9E | 25 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| May 12, 18:00 | 12.1S 149.3E | 25 kt | Tropical storm | |
| May 13, 00:00 | 12.1S 148.4E | 25 kt | Tropical storm |
Other South Pacific storms of 1989
- Tropical Storm EsetaSouth Pacific · 1989
- Tropical Storm DelilahSouth 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
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.