The 1989 season

Cyclone Gizela (1989)

Cyclone Gizela reached Category 1 in the South Indian between February 16, 1989 and February 24, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 976 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Gizela, 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
February 16, 1989 to February 24, 1989
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
976 mb (28.82 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1096 km (681 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.6
Identifier
SH121989

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
Feb 16, 06:0012.9S 78.6E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 12:0013.2S 77.5E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0013.7S 76.5E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 00:0014.0S 75.8E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 06:0013.8S 76.2E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 12:0013.9S 75.4E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 18:0014.2S 74.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 00:0014.6S 73.4E35 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0015.2S 72.6E40 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0015.8S 72.2E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0016.4S 72.1E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0017.0S 72.0E45 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 06:0017.5S 72.0E45 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 12:0017.8S 72.2E55 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 18:0018.1S 72.3E60 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 00:0018.6S 72.5E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 06:0019.1S 72.9E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 12:0019.7S 73.1E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 18:0020.7S 72.9E65 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 00:0021.4S 72.2E65 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 06:0021.6S 71.4E50 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 12:0021.8S 70.4E45 kt984 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 18:0022.1S 69.5E40 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 00:0022.7S 68.8E35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 06:0023.8S 68.0E30 kt991 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 12:0024.6S 67.3E25 kt997 mbMixed
Feb 22, 18:0025.5S 67.1E28 kt997 mbMixed
Feb 23, 00:0026.7S 67.1E28 kt997 mbMixed
Feb 23, 06:0027.7S 67.2E28 kt997 mbMixed
Feb 23, 12:0028.4S 67.4E24 kt1000 mbMixed
Feb 23, 18:0029.2S 67.7E24 kt1000 mbMixed
Feb 24, 00:0030.1S 67.9E24 kt1000 mbMixed

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.