1989 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Elsie 1989
Typhoon Elsie was the third typhoon to affect the Philippines within twelve days in October 1989. It intensified shortly before reaching Luzon, adding to the damage and displacement left by Angela and Dan.
Drag to pan. Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the full track.
161 mph
Oct 18, 1989 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Intensification before the Luzon crossing
Elsie developed east of the Philippines in weak steering currents. Improved upper-level outflow helped it intensify rapidly on 15 October. After moving west, it strengthened again close to Luzon, reaching archived one-minute winds of 140 kt late on 18 October.
The center crossed the Luzon coast early on 19 October. Elsie weakened rapidly over land and entered the South China Sea as a tropical storm. Strong wind shear prevented a significant recovery.
Another storm during recovery
Elsie killed 47 people and injured 363 in the Philippines. About 332,000 people were left homeless, and reported damage reached US$35.4 million in 1989 values. Its landfall area was relatively sparsely populated, limiting losses compared with the preceding storms despite Elsie's intensity.
The weakened storm continued toward Vietnam and reached the coast on 22 October. Its remaining circulation dissipated over Laos after crossing inland.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Elsie in brief
What was Typhoon Elsie's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Oct 18, 1989, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Elsie?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Oct 18, 1989, 06:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Elsie's lowest pressure?
915 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Oct 18, 1989, 12:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Elsie occur?
The archived track runs from Oct 13, 1989, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 22, 1989, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Oct 13, 1989, 12:00 AM UTC to Oct 22, 1989, 12:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Elsie form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1989 season. Its first archived position is 14°N, 137°E on Oct 13, 1989, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Elsie make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 2 recorded positions; the strongest is 127 mph on Oct 19, 1989, 03:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology