The 1989 season

Cyclone Firinga (1989)

Cyclone Firinga reached Category 2 in the South Indian between January 24, 1989 and February 7, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 954 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Firinga, 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
South Indian
Dates
January 24, 1989 to February 7, 1989
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
954 mb (28.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.0
Fastest the center moved
18 kt (21 mph)
Identifier
SH081989

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
Jan 24, 06:0011.0S 64.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 12:0011.1S 64.4E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 24, 18:0011.2S 64.8E25 ktTropical storm
Jan 25, 00:0011.4S 65.0E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 25, 06:0011.6S 65.3E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 25, 12:0012.0S 65.6E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 25, 18:0012.4S 65.9E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Jan 26, 00:0012.8S 66.2E35 kt991 mbXX
Jan 26, 06:0013.4S 66.1E35 kt991 mbXX
Jan 26, 12:0014.2S 65.8E40 kt991 mbXX
Jan 26, 18:0014.7S 65.3E45 kt991 mbXX
Jan 27, 00:0015.3S 64.8E45 kt984 mbXX
Jan 27, 06:0015.9S 64.1E50 kt976 mbXX
Jan 27, 12:0016.5S 63.2E55 kt976 mbXX
Jan 27, 18:0017.1S 62.2E60 kt976 mbXX
Jan 28, 00:0017.8S 61.2E65 kt976 mbXX
Jan 28, 06:0018.3S 60.0E70 kt976 mbXX
Jan 28, 12:0019.0S 58.9E80 kt966 mbXX
Jan 28, 18:0019.6S 57.6E90 kt966 mbXX
Jan 29, 00:0020.1S 56.7E90 kt954 mbXX
Jan 29, 06:0020.7S 55.8E90 kt954 mbXX
Jan 29, 12:0021.2S 55.1E90 kt966 mbXX
Jan 29, 18:0021.8S 54.3E85 kt966 mbXX
Jan 30, 00:0022.3S 53.8E75 kt966 mbXX
Jan 30, 06:0023.0S 53.0E65 kt966 mbXX
Jan 30, 12:0023.7S 52.3E55 kt976 mbXX
Jan 30, 18:0024.4S 51.7E45 kt976 mbXX
Jan 31, 00:0025.2S 51.0E45 kt976 mbXX
Jan 31, 06:0026.1S 50.6E45 kt976 mbXX
Jan 31, 12:0027.2S 50.4E40 kt984 mbXX
Jan 31, 18:0028.3S 50.3E35 kt984 mbXX
Feb 1, 00:0029.4S 50.5E35 kt991 mbXX
Feb 1, 06:0030.5S 51.0E30 kt991 mbXX
Feb 1, 12:0030.5S 53.7E36 kt991 mbMixed
Feb 1, 18:0030.4S 55.2E28 kt997 mbMixed
Feb 2, 00:0030.1S 56.8E24 kt1000 mbMixed
Feb 2, 06:0030.0S 58.1E24 kt1000 mbMixed
Feb 2, 12:0030.1S 59.1E36 ktMixed
Feb 2, 18:0030.2S 60.0E36 ktNot reported
Feb 3, 00:0030.2S 61.2E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 3, 06:0030.0S 62.4E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 3, 12:0029.5S 62.1E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 3, 18:0029.2S 61.5E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 4, 00:0029.0S 61.0E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 4, 06:0029.0S 60.0E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 4, 12:0028.9S 59.8E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 4, 18:0028.9S 59.3E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 5, 00:0029.0S 59.1E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 5, 06:0029.0S 58.9EExtratropical
Feb 5, 12:0029.5S 58.2E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 5, 18:0030.4S 57.9E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 6, 00:0031.8S 57.4E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 6, 06:0033.0S 57.0E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 6, 12:0033.9S 56.4E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 6, 18:0034.7S 55.6E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 7, 00:0035.3S 54.7E36 ktExtratropical
Feb 7, 06:0036.0S 53.5E36 ktExtratropical

Other South Indian 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.