The 1989 season

Super Typhoon Gordon (1989)

Super Typhoon Gordon reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between July 9, 1989 and July 19, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Gordon, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
July 9, 1989 to July 19, 1989
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
21.1
Fastest the center moved
20 kt (23 mph)
Identifier
WP081989

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
Jul 9, 00:0020.0N 160.2E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 9, 06:0019.9N 158.9E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 9, 12:0019.8N 157.5E15 ktTropical storm
Jul 9, 18:0019.6N 156.3E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 00:0019.5N 155.0E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 06:0019.3N 153.8E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 12:0019.2N 152.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 10, 18:0019.0N 151.0E25 ktTropical storm
Jul 11, 00:0018.8N 149.2E25 kt1008 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 06:0018.6N 147.3E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 12:0018.5N 145.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 11, 18:0018.3N 144.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 00:0018.1N 142.6E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 06:0018.0N 141.3E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 12:0017.9N 139.9E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 12, 18:0017.9N 138.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 00:0017.8N 136.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 06:0017.6N 135.1E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 12:0017.0N 133.8E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 13, 18:0016.5N 132.6E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 00:0016.4N 131.4E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 06:0016.3N 130.2E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 12:0016.3N 128.8E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 14, 18:0016.4N 127.4E115 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 00:0016.6N 126.2E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 06:0017.0N 125.1E140 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 12:0017.5N 124.0E140 kt915 mbTropical storm
Jul 15, 18:0017.9N 122.6E140 kt925 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 00:0018.2N 121.3E120 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 06:0018.3N 120.1E110 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 12:0018.5N 118.8E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 16, 18:0018.6N 117.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 00:0019.1N 116.6E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 06:0019.7N 115.6E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 12:0020.4N 114.7E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 17, 18:0020.8N 113.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 00:0021.1N 112.5E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 06:0021.4N 111.3E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 12:0021.7N 110.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 18, 18:0022.0N 108.7E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 00:0022.2N 107.7E25 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jul 19, 06:0023.0N 106.3E998 mbTropical 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.