Hurricane Hugo (1989)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 10, 1989 to September 25, 1989

Peak strength

Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)

Lowest pressure

918 mb (27.11 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

42.7

Fastest the center moved

56 kt (64 mph)

Identifier

AL111989

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.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 2,055 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 10.28 inches (261 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm AllisonNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Storm45 kt · 999 mb
• Tropical Storm BarryNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Storm45 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane ChantalNorth Atlantic · 1989Cat 170 kt · 984 mb
• Hurricane DeanNorth Atlantic · 1989Cat 290 kt · 968 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Depression30 kt
• Hurricane ErinNorth Atlantic · 1989Cat 290 kt · 968 mb
• Hurricane FelixNorth Atlantic · 1989Cat 175 kt · 979 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Depression25 kt
• Hurricane GabrielleNorth Atlantic · 1989Cat 4125 kt · 935 mb
• Tropical Storm IrisNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Storm60 kt · 1001 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Depression30 kt
• Hurricane JerryNorth Atlantic · 1989Cat 175 kt · 982 mb
• Tropical Storm KarenNorth Atlantic · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 1000 mb

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.

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.

• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Hugo