The 1989 season

Cyclone Harry (1989)

Cyclone Harry reached Category 4 in the South Pacific between February 6, 1989 and February 23, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Harry, 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 Pacific
Dates
February 6, 1989 to February 23, 1989
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
40.0
Identifier
SH101989

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 6, 06:0015.5S 163.7E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 6, 12:0015.8S 163.2E20 ktTropical storm
Feb 6, 18:0016.2S 162.7E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 00:0016.3S 162.4E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 06:0016.5S 162.0E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 12:0016.7S 161.8E25 ktTropical storm
Feb 7, 18:0017.0S 161.5E30 ktTropical storm
Feb 8, 00:0017.3S 161.4E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 06:0017.7S 161.6E35 kt995 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 12:0018.3S 162.3E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 8, 18:0018.5S 163.1E45 ktTropical storm
Feb 9, 00:0018.2S 163.7E55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 06:0018.1S 164.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 12:0018.3S 165.0E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 9, 18:0018.5S 165.5E70 ktTropical storm
Feb 10, 00:0018.7S 165.6E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 06:0019.2S 165.6E90 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 12:0019.3S 165.5E110 kt970 mbTropical storm
Feb 10, 18:0019.7S 165.4E115 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 00:0020.1S 164.9E115 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 06:0020.5S 164.4E110 ktTropical storm
Feb 11, 12:0020.9S 163.6E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Feb 11, 18:0021.0S 162.9E100 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 00:0020.9S 162.5E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Feb 12, 06:0020.7S 162.2E90 ktTropical storm
Feb 12, 12:0020.6S 161.5E80 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 12, 18:0020.4S 161.1E80 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 00:0020.0S 160.6E80 kt940 mbTropical storm
Feb 13, 06:0019.7S 160.1E90 ktTropical storm
Feb 13, 12:0019.4S 159.7E95 kt960 mbTropical storm
Feb 13, 18:0019.3S 159.3E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 14, 00:0019.2S 158.8E115 kt925 mbTropical storm
Feb 14, 06:0019.0S 158.4E125 kt925 mbTropical storm
Feb 14, 12:0019.0S 157.9E130 kt925 mbTropical storm
Feb 14, 18:0019.1S 157.6E125 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 00:0019.3S 157.4E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 06:0019.4S 157.4E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 12:0019.5S 157.5E115 kt945 mbTropical storm
Feb 15, 18:0019.6S 157.6E110 kt954 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 00:0019.7S 157.7E110 kt957 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 06:0019.8S 157.8E105 kt960 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 12:0019.8S 158.2E95 kt972 mbTropical storm
Feb 16, 18:0019.9S 158.8E90 kt974 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 00:0020.3S 159.5E80 kt976 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 06:0020.7S 160.2E80 ktTropical storm
Feb 17, 12:0021.2S 160.9E80 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 17, 18:0021.7S 161.7E80 ktTropical storm
Feb 18, 00:0022.3S 162.6E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 06:0023.0S 163.0E60 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 12:0023.9S 163.9E55 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 18, 18:0024.7S 164.9E45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 00:0025.8S 165.4E35 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 06:0026.5S 165.4E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 12:0027.2S 165.2E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 19, 18:0027.8S 164.9E40 ktTropical storm
Feb 20, 00:0028.8S 164.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 06:0029.7S 163.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 12:0030.9S 163.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 20, 18:0032.2S 163.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 00:0033.6S 163.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 06:0035.5S 163.1E55 ktTropical storm
Feb 21, 12:0037.8S 163.3E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 21, 18:0040.3S 164.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 00:0043.0S 165.0E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 22, 06:0045.6S 167.9ENot reported
Feb 22, 12:0047.2S 170.7E40 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 18:0048.2S 173.4ENot reported
Feb 23, 00:0049.0S 175.9E35 kt995 mbNot reported

Other South 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.