The 1989 season

Cyclone Judy (1989)

Cyclone Judy reached Category 2 in the South Pacific between February 22, 1989 and February 28, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Judy, 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 22, 1989 to February 28, 1989
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1654 km (1028 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.9
Identifier
SH151989

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 22, 00:0014.4S 150.5W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 06:0015.5S 151.4WNot reported
Feb 22, 12:0016.6S 152.0W30 kt997 mbNot reported
Feb 22, 18:0017.9S 152.1WNot reported
Feb 23, 00:0019.0S 152.0W35 kt995 mbNot reported
Feb 23, 06:0019.8S 152.1WNot reported
Feb 23, 12:0020.5S 152.5W40 kt990 mbNot reported
Feb 23, 18:0021.5S 153.8W35 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 00:0022.0S 154.1W35 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 06:0022.5S 154.1W45 ktTropical storm
Feb 24, 12:0022.9S 154.3W55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Feb 24, 18:0023.0S 154.7W65 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 00:0023.0S 155.2W70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 06:0022.9S 155.7W75 ktTropical storm
Feb 25, 12:0022.7S 156.2W80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 25, 18:0022.5S 156.7W85 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 00:0022.4S 157.2W90 kt970 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 06:0022.4S 157.7W85 ktTropical storm
Feb 26, 12:0022.4S 158.3W80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Feb 26, 18:0022.5S 158.9W75 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 00:0022.8S 159.6W75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 06:0023.6S 160.1W60 ktTropical storm
Feb 27, 12:0024.7S 160.4W45 kt987 mbTropical storm
Feb 27, 18:0026.9S 160.1W30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Feb 28, 00:0029.2S 160.3W35 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.