Tropical Storm Fili (1989)

Basin

South Pacific

Dates

January 2, 1989 to January 8, 1989

Peak strength

Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph), ten-minute wind

Lowest pressure

985 mb (29.09 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 310 km (193 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

2.7

Identifier

1989002S14192

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.

• Tropical Storm EsetaSouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm55 kt · 980 mb
• Tropical Storm DelilahSouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm60 kt · 975 mb
• Tropical Storm GinaSouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm45 kt · 987 mb
• Cyclone HarrySouth Pacific · 1989Cat 4130 kt · 925 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm45 kt · 987 mb
• Cyclone HinanoSouth Pacific · 1989Cat 290 kt · 970 mb
• Cyclone JudySouth Pacific · 1989Cat 290 kt · 965 mb
• Cyclone IvySouth Pacific · 1989Cat 3100 kt · 960 mb
• Tropical Storm KerrySouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 985 mb
• Cyclone AivuSouth Pacific · 1989Cat 4120 kt · 935 mb
• Cyclone LiliSouth Pacific · 1989Cat 3110 kt · 955 mb
• Tropical Storm MeenaSouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 990 mb
• Tropical Storm ErnieSouth Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm35 kt · 997 mb

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. This storm’s winds are ten-minute averages from its regional agency. They read about 12 percent lower than the one-minute winds US agencies use, so a Saffir-Simpson category is not given for it.

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.