The 1989 season

Hurricane Gabrielle (1989)

Hurricane Gabrielle reached Category 4 in the North Atlantic between August 30, 1989 and September 13, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 935 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Gabrielle, 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
North Atlantic
Dates
August 30, 1989 to September 13, 1989
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
935 mb (27.61 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 338 km (210 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
38.2
Fastest the center moved
20 kt (23 mph)
Identifier
AL101989

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 30, 12:0011.6N 21.0W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 30, 18:0011.3N 23.0W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Aug 31, 00:0011.3N 24.8W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0011.4N 26.5W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0011.5N 28.3W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0011.5N 30.0W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0011.5N 31.7W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 06:0011.8N 33.4W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 12:0012.3N 35.1W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 1, 18:0012.8N 36.8W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 00:0013.4N 38.6W75 kt980 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 06:0013.9N 40.3W80 kt977 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 12:0014.4N 42.0W85 kt974 mbHurricane
Sep 2, 18:0014.8N 43.8W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 00:0015.2N 45.5W95 kt966 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 06:0015.6N 47.2W100 kt960 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 12:0016.1N 48.8W105 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 3, 18:0016.5N 50.3W105 kt937 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 00:0017.0N 51.5W105 kt937 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 06:0017.4N 52.7W110 kt940 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 12:0018.0N 53.8W115 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 4, 18:0018.6N 54.8W120 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 00:0019.3N 55.7W125 kt944 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 06:0019.9N 56.5W125 kt941 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 12:0020.6N 57.2W125 kt941 mbHurricane
Sep 5, 18:0021.4N 57.8W125 kt941 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 00:0022.2N 58.3W125 kt944 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 06:0023.1N 58.8W120 kt942 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 12:0024.0N 59.3W120 kt944 mbHurricane
Sep 6, 18:0025.1N 59.8W120 kt944 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 00:0026.4N 60.0W120 kt943 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 06:0027.7N 60.0W105 kt948 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 12:0029.0N 59.9W95 kt950 mbHurricane
Sep 7, 18:0030.5N 59.8W95 kt951 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 00:0032.1N 59.6W95 kt951 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 06:0033.7N 59.6W90 kt955 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 12:0035.1N 59.6W85 kt961 mbHurricane
Sep 8, 18:0036.4N 59.7W80 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 00:0037.2N 59.8W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 06:0038.0N 59.9W70 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 12:0038.5N 60.0W65 kt988 mbHurricane
Sep 9, 18:0038.9N 60.1W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 00:0039.1N 60.3W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 10, 06:0039.1N 60.4W60 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 12:0039.1N 60.6W60 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 10, 18:0039.1N 61.1W55 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 00:0039.1N 61.6W50 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 06:0039.0N 62.0W45 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0039.4N 62.0W40 kt1003 mbTropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0039.9N 61.3W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 00:0040.2N 60.6W35 kt1005 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0040.3N 59.7W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0040.5N 58.7W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Sep 12, 18:0041.0N 57.1W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Sep 13, 00:0041.8N 55.3W30 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 13, 06:0042.7N 53.5W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Sep 13, 12:0043.8N 51.5W30 kt1010 mbTropical depression

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.