The 1989 season

Cyclone Lili (1989)

Cyclone Lili reached Category 3 in the South Pacific between April 6, 1989 and April 13, 1989, with a lowest pressure of 955 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Lili, 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
April 6, 1989 to April 13, 1989
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
955 mb (28.20 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.7
Identifier
SH251989

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
Apr 6, 00:0013.2S 159.1E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 06:0012.9S 159.8E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:0012.5S 160.4E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:0012.0S 161.2E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:0012.1S 162.2E30 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:0012.5S 163.2E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:0013.1S 163.9E40 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:0013.5S 164.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:0013.8S 164.5E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:0014.1S 164.6E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:0014.4S 164.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:0014.9S 164.7E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:0015.6S 164.6E95 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0016.4S 164.6E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0017.1S 164.6E105 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0018.0S 164.8E110 kt955 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0019.0S 165.0E100 kt960 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0020.0S 165.6E90 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0021.1S 166.2E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0022.2S 166.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0023.1S 167.1E35 kt987 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0023.8S 167.7E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0024.1S 168.5E25 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0024.6S 168.9E25 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0025.0S 168.5E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0025.0S 167.8E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0025.0S 166.7E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0025.0S 165.8E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0025.2S 164.7E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0025.8S 163.7E20 ktTropical storm

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.