The 1989 season

Hurricane Ismael (1989)

Hurricane Ismael reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between August 14, 1989 and August 25, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Ismael, 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
Eastern Pacific
Dates
August 14, 1989 to August 25, 1989
Peak strength
Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 197 km (122 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
22.2
Fastest the center moved
14 kt (16 mph)
Identifier
EP121989

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 14, 12:0012.5N 98.9W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Aug 14, 18:0012.8N 99.2W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 15, 00:0013.1N 99.6W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 15, 06:0013.6N 99.9W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Aug 15, 12:0014.3N 100.2W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Aug 15, 18:0014.9N 100.5W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 00:0015.3N 101.0W40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 06:0015.6N 101.6W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Aug 16, 12:0015.8N 102.2W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 16, 18:0016.0N 102.9W75 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 00:0016.1N 103.5W80 kt978 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 06:0016.3N 104.4W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 12:0016.5N 105.5W90 kt968 mbHurricane
Aug 17, 18:0016.7N 106.7W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 00:0016.9N 107.8W80 kt978 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 06:0017.0N 108.9W80 kt978 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 12:0017.3N 110.1W85 kt976 mbHurricane
Aug 18, 18:0017.6N 111.5W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 00:0017.9N 112.9W90 kt968 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 06:0018.2N 114.2W95 kt962 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 12:0018.4N 115.6W100 kt958 mbHurricane
Aug 19, 18:0018.7N 116.8W105 kt955 mbHurricane
Aug 20, 00:0018.9N 118.0W100 kt956 mbHurricane
Aug 20, 06:0019.0N 119.2W90 kt965 mbHurricane
Aug 20, 12:0019.0N 120.3W80 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 20, 18:0018.9N 121.3W70 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 00:0018.7N 122.4W70 kt987 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 06:0018.7N 123.3W75 kt984 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 12:0018.6N 124.3W85 kt975 mbHurricane
Aug 21, 18:0018.4N 125.2W90 kt965 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 00:0018.2N 126.2W95 kt962 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 06:0018.2N 127.1W95 kt963 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 12:0018.2N 128.0W90 kt968 mbHurricane
Aug 22, 18:0018.3N 129.0W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Aug 23, 00:0018.4N 130.0W80 kt980 mbHurricane
Aug 23, 06:0018.5N 131.1W70 kt985 mbHurricane
Aug 23, 12:0018.6N 132.3W65 kt990 mbHurricane
Aug 23, 18:0018.6N 133.4W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 00:0018.6N 134.5W45 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 06:0018.6N 135.5W35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 24, 12:0018.7N 136.5W30 kt1004 mbTropical depression
Aug 24, 18:0018.9N 137.5W30 kt1008 mbTropical depression
Aug 25, 00:0019.0N 138.5W25 kt1010 mbTropical depression
Aug 25, 06:0019.3N 139.5W25 kt1011 mbTropical depression
Aug 25, 12:0019.5N 140.5W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression
Aug 25, 18:0019.2N 142.0W20 kt1012 mbTropical depression

Other Eastern 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.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.