The 1989 season

Hurricane Jerry (1989)

Hurricane Jerry reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between October 12, 1989 and October 16, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 982 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Jerry, 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
North Atlantic
Dates
October 12, 1989 to October 16, 1989
Peak strength
Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
Lowest pressure
982 mb (29.00 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.0
Fastest the center moved
19 kt (22 mph)
Identifier
AL141989

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.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Oct 16, 00:30Jamaica Beach, TX, 2 km away29.2N 95.0W75 kt (86 mph)983 mb

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

Rainfall

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 2,382 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 6.71 inches (170 mm).

StationTotalPosition
GRAY HAWK6.71 in (170 mm)37.40N 83.95W
SILSBEE6.40 in (163 mm)30.34N 94.17W
HYDEN 4 E6.03 in (153 mm)37.13N 83.33W
HAZARD WATERWORKS5.67 in (144 mm)37.25N 83.18W
HEIDELBERG LOCK 145.64 in (143 mm)37.55N 83.77W
JACKSON JULIAN CARROLL AP5.38 in (137 mm)37.58N 83.32W
ELKHORN CITY5.34 in (136 mm)37.30N 82.35W
LONDON STATE POLICE5.33 in (135 mm)37.13N 84.10W
IVEL5.02 in (128 mm)37.57N 82.67W
CARR FORK LAKE4.90 in (124 mm)37.23N 83.03W
KENNETT RADIO KBOA4.85 in (123 mm)36.23N 90.08W
LIBERTY4.80 in (122 mm)30.07N 94.80W

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

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Oct 12, 12:0019.4N 92.4W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Oct 12, 18:0019.8N 92.7W30 kt1006 mbTropical depression
Oct 13, 00:0020.4N 93.0W35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0021.0N 93.2W40 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0021.7N 93.3W45 kt997 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0022.6N 93.4W50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0023.5N 93.5W55 kt991 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0024.2N 93.3W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0024.6N 93.1W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0025.0N 92.8W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0025.8N 93.1W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0026.5N 93.4W55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0027.3N 94.0W60 kt991 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0028.1N 94.6W65 kt986 mbHurricane
Oct 16, 00:0029.1N 95.0W75 kt983 mbHurricane
Oct 16, 00:30 landfall29.2N 95.0W75 kt983 mbHurricane
Oct 16, 06:0030.4N 94.9W35 kt991 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0032.0N 94.5W20 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Oct 16, 18:0033.8N 93.8W15 kt1009 mbTropical depression

Other North Atlantic 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.