The 1989 season

Super Typhoon Gay (1989)

Super Typhoon Gay reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 31, 1989 and November 10, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 970 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Gay, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
October 31, 1989 to November 10, 1989
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
970 mb (28.64 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
25.9
Fastest the center moved
14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier
WP321989

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
Oct 31, 12:007.2N 105.2E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 31, 18:007.5N 104.8E1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 00:007.1N 103.7E25 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 06:007.7N 103.1E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 12:008.0N 102.6E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:008.1N 102.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:008.2N 102.2E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:008.3N 102.0E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:008.7N 101.9E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:009.1N 101.8E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:009.3N 101.5E65 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:009.8N 101.2E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:0010.2N 100.8E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0010.4N 100.3E95 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0010.5N 99.9E100 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0010.7N 99.2E100 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0011.2N 98.3E65 ktTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0011.3N 97.5E75 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0011.4N 96.8E85 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0011.7N 95.9E90 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0012.0N 94.8E95 ktTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0012.2N 93.8E95 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0012.4N 92.6E95 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0013.0N 91.4E95 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0013.4N 90.2E95 ktTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0013.7N 89.1E95 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0013.9N 88.1E100 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 06:0014.2N 87.1E105 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0014.5N 86.1E110 ktTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0014.6N 85.0E115 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0014.6N 83.8E120 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0014.6N 82.6E130 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0014.7N 81.5E135 ktTropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0014.8N 80.4E140 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0015.1N 79.1E90 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0015.4N 77.7E45 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0015.8N 76.5E35 ktTropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0016.6N 75.5E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 10, 00:0017.6N 74.6E20 ktTropical storm
Nov 10, 06:0018.1N 74.0E15 ktTropical storm

Other Western Pacific 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.