The 1989 season

Hurricane Felix (1989)

Hurricane Felix reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between August 26, 1989 and September 10, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 979 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Felix, 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.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 26, 1989 to September 10, 1989
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
979 mb (28.91 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 442 km (275 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.7
Fastest the center moved
22 kt (25 mph)
Identifier
AL081989

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
Aug 26, 00:0016.8N 21.0W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Aug 26, 06:0016.9N 21.7W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Aug 26, 12:0017.0N 22.2W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Aug 26, 18:0017.2N 22.9W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0017.4N 23.5W35 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0017.8N 23.9W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0018.2N 24.0W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0018.7N 24.3W50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0019.1N 24.6W50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0019.7N 24.8W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0020.0N 24.9W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0020.5N 24.9W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0020.8N 25.3W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0021.1N 26.0W35 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0021.4N 26.9W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0021.9N 27.8W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 30, 00:0022.5N 28.7W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Aug 30, 06:0023.4N 29.7W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Aug 30, 12:0024.2N 31.0W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Aug 30, 18:0025.1N 32.4W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 31, 00:0026.3N 34.0W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 31, 06:0027.6N 35.6W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 31, 12:0028.9N 37.1W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 31, 18:0029.7N 38.6W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Sep 1, 00:0030.5N 39.7W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 1, 06:0031.1N 41.1W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 1, 12:0031.8N 40.8W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 1, 18:0032.2N 40.9W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 2, 00:0032.7N 40.9W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 2, 06:0033.0N 40.9W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 2, 12:0033.1N 41.0W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 2, 18:0033.2N 41.3W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 3, 00:0033.2N 41.8W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0033.4N 42.3W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0033.5N 42.9W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0033.8N 43.9W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0034.0N 45.2W40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0034.3N 46.3W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0034.9N 47.5W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0035.3N 48.1W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0035.7N 48.8W55 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0036.0N 48.7W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 12:0036.3N 48.6W70 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 18:0036.7N 48.3W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 00:0036.9N 48.2W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 06:0037.2N 48.1W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 12:0037.4N 48.0W70 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 18:0037.6N 47.9W70 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 00:0038.0N 47.8W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 06:0038.5N 47.7W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 12:0039.3N 47.6W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 18:0040.4N 47.0W50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 00:0041.3N 46.7W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 06:0042.4N 45.8W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 12:0043.6N 44.8W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 8, 18:0045.0N 42.8W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 00:0046.5N 40.5W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 9, 06:0046.5N 38.0W40 kt1002 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 12:0046.5N 35.5W40 kt1000 mbExtratropical
Sep 9, 18:0045.5N 33.5W45 kt997 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 00:0044.5N 31.5W50 kt995 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 06:0043.5N 30.2W50 kt995 mbExtratropical
Sep 10, 12:0042.5N 29.0W50 kt995 mbExtratropical

Other North Atlantic 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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.