Super Typhoon Irma (1989)

Basin

Western Pacific

Dates

November 20, 1989 to December 5, 1989

Peak strength

Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)

Lowest pressure

925 mb (27.32 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 649 km (403 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

27.5

Identifier

WP341989

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.

• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression
• Super Typhoon AndyWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 5140 kt · 920 mb
• Typhoon BrendaWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 175 kt · 970 mb
• Typhoon CecilWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 175 kt · 975 mb
• Typhoon DotWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 3100 kt · 955 mb
• Tropical Storm EllisWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm35 kt · 985 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm FayeWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm60 kt · 980 mb
• Super Typhoon GordonWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 5140 kt · 915 mb
• Tropical Storm HopeWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm55 kt · 990 mb
• Tropical Storm IrvingWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm55 kt · 985 mb
• Typhoon JudyWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 295 kt · 940 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression30 kt
• Tropical Storm Ken:LolaWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 980 mb
• Typhoon MacWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 180 kt · 950 mb
• Typhoon OwenWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 175 kt · 960 mb
• Typhoon NancyWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 175 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm PeggyWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm35 kt · 996 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression30 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression
• Tropical Storm RogerWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 975 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression30 kt · 1002 mb
• Typhoon SarahWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 4125 kt · 950 mb
• Tropical Storm TipWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 984 mb
• Tropical Storm VeraWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Storm50 kt · 972 mb
• Typhoon WayneWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 165 kt · 970 mb
• Typhoon ColleenWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 180 kt · 950 mb
• Super Typhoon AngelaWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 4130 kt · 925 mb
• Typhoon BrianWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 180 kt · 970 mb
• Typhoon DanWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 170 kt · 960 mb
• Super Typhoon ElsieWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 5140 kt · 915 mb
• Typhoon ForrestWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 295 kt · 940 mb
• Super Typhoon GayWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 5140 kt · 970 mb
• Typhoon HuntWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 290 kt · 960 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression30 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1989Tropical Depression
• Typhoon JackWestern Pacific · 1989Cat 4125 kt · 925 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.