1989 Pacific typhoon season | |
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![]() Season summary map | |
Seasonal boundaries | |
First system formed | January 15, 1989 |
Last system dissipated | December 27, 1989 |
Strongest storm | |
Name | Gordon and Elsie |
• Maximum winds | 185 km/h (115 mph) (10-minute sustained) |
• Lowest pressure | 915 hPa (mbar) |
Seasonal statistics | |
Total depressions | 55 |
Total storms | 32 |
Typhoons | 20 |
Super typhoons | 5 (unofficial) |
Total fatalities | 3,328 total |
Total damage | $2.24 billion (1989 USD) |
Related articles | |
The 1989 Pacific typhoon season was the first of six consecutive years of above-average activity in the Western Pacific. It was an extremely active season spawning 32 tropical storms, 20 typhoons and five super typhoons. It has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1989, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November.[1] These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The first storm, Winona, formed on January 15, while the final storm, Jack, dissipated on December 27. This season was also quite a deadly season that were caused by a few notable storms such as Tropical Storm Cecil, which was the worst storm to impact Vietnam in over 50 years,[2] and Typhoon Gay, which directly impacted the Malay Peninsula as the worst typhoon in 35 years. Both of these storms make up around half of the total fatalities of the entire season alone.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and between 100°E and 180th meridian. 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.