1989 Pacific typhoon season
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The 1989 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1989, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1989 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.
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[edit] Storms
35 tropical cyclones formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 31 became tropical storms. 21 storms reached typhoon intensity, of which 6 reached super typhoon strength.
[edit] Typhoon Brenda
A tropical depression which formed in the monsoon trough on May 14 became a tropical storm on the 16th and crossed the Philippines that day. Brenda became a typhoon and reached a peak of 85 mph winds before hitting southern China on the 20th. The storm brought torrential flooding, resulting in at least 140 casualties and widespread damage.
[edit] Typhoon Cecil
The day after Brenda dissipated another tropical depression formed in the South China Sea from the monsoon trough. It became a tropical storm later on the 22nd, and reached typhoon strength on the 24th. Cecil initially tracked to the northwest, but ridging to the north forced the typhoon westward where it hit central Vietnam on the 24th. Cecil rapidly dissipated, but not after bringing heavy flooding that killed 52 and left over 100,000 homeless.
[edit] Super Typhoon Gordon
A single Cumulonimbus cloud beneath the Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough developed into a weak tropical depression on July 9. It tracked westward with a cold core upper level low aloft, a very unusual circumstance. Initially forecasted to remain weak due to the lack of upper level outflow, it was able to strengthen into a tropical storm on the 12th. The cold low quickly warmed, and Gordon became a typhoon on the 13th. It rapidly intensified on the 14th and 15th to a 160 mph super typhoon, and hit northern Luzon later that day at that intensity. It steadily weakened as hit moved westward, and made landfall on southern China, 100 miles southwest of Hong Kong, as a 70 mph tropical storm on the 18th. Gordon caused 27 casualties (with 15 people missing) and left 120,000 homeless.
[edit] Tropical Storm Irving
65 mph Tropical Storm Irving hit northern Vietnam on July 24, killing 102 from heavy flooding.
[edit] Tropical Storm Ken-Lola
The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression on July 29. Poorly organized, it moved quickly northeastward and became a tropical storm on the 30th. Operationally, Tropical Storm Ken continued northeastward with the rest of the convection, with Tropical Storm Lola forming further westward, but the ill-defined circulation actually continued westward, leading to one storm with two names. Ken-Lola turned to the southwest, stalling before heading northwest again. Ken-Lola reached a peak of 60 mph winds before hitting eastern China on the 3rd, causing little damage as it slowly dissipated until the 7th. Ken-Lola shows the troubles of tracking poorly organized systems. A more recent example is Tropical Depression 32W/33W in 1995.
[edit] Typhoon Sarah
On September 9, Typhoon Sarah, which formed on the 3rd, stalled east of the Philippines, bringing heavy rain and rare tornadic activity to the country. Sarah turned northward, where it rapidly intensified to a 145 mph typhoon on the 11th. The system had 2 main centers, causing it to loop while south of Taiwan before crossing the island on the 12th. Sarah continued northwestward, and dissipated over eastern China on the 14th. 44 casualties can be attributed to this system.
[edit] Tropical Storm Vera
Tropical Storm Vera, which formed on September 11, hit eastern China on the 15th as a 45 mph storm. Torrential rains and flooding caused more than 500 casualties and extensive crop damage.
[edit] Super Typhoon Angela
When Super Typhoon Angela, which developed on September 28, hit northern Luzon on October 5, it caused 62 fatalities (with 50 missing) and massive damage from flooding and mudslides. Over the next 12 days, the Philippines would be hit by 2 more typhoons; Dan and Elsie.
[edit] Typhoon Dan
The 2nd of 3 typhoons to hit the Philippines in a 12 day period, Dan hit the central part of the country on October 10 as a 75 mph typhoon. It continued westward to hit Vietnam on the 13th where it dissipated. Dan, though a weak system, killed 41 people as it crossed the archipelago and left 232,555 people homeless.
[edit] Super Typhoon Elsie
17 casualties can be attributed to Super Typhoon Elsie hitting Luzon as a 160 mph super typhoon on October 19, just weeks after Angela and Dan hit the same area.
[edit] Typhoon Forrest
The last of the tropical cyclones in October and the 17th typhoon of the year, Forrest was slow to develop initially near the Marshall Islands as it was a large cyclone. Once it passed Guam by only 140 km/85 mi, it intensified into a typhoon, with maximum sustained winds peaking at 95 kt/110 mph. Tree limbs and power lines were downed as the system pulled away from Saipan. It then recurved, accelerating northeast to become of the strongest extratropical cyclones in the Pacific Ocean that year. [1]
[edit] Typhoon Gay
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| Gay satellite image and storm track. | |
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- Main article: Typhoon Gay (1989)
Typhoon Gay was a Western Pacific typhoon that crossed the Malay Peninsula in early November. It continued westward, reaching a peak of 160 mph winds before hitting India and dissipating on the 10th. Gay killed over 1,000 people.
[edit] 1989 storm names
Western North Pacific tropical cyclones were named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The first storm of 1989 was named Winona and the final one was named Jack. Though the names Ken and Lola were used separately, they were in fact one system.
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After List 1 ended, the following names were used, part of the following years' name listing.
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[edit] See also
- 1989 Pacific hurricane season
- 1989 Atlantic hurricane season
- 1989 North Indian cyclone season
- 1989-90 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season
[edit] References
- ^ https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc/atcr/1989atcr/pdf/wnp/31w.pdf#search=%22typhoon%20forrest%201989%22
