1989 South Indian cyclone season
Cyclone Orson 1989
Cyclone Orson struck a sparsely populated part of Western Australia in April 1989 after becoming exceptionally intense offshore. Its eye passed over the North Rankin gas platform, providing rare measurements from near the center of a severe cyclone.
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161 mph
Apr 21, 1989 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Intensification off Western Australia
Orson developed northwest of Darwin and moved west while strengthening. It slowed as its eye formed, then turned south and accelerated toward the Pilbara coast. The archive records peak one-minute winds of 140 kt on 22 April.
The North Rankin gas platform spent about 40 minutes inside Orson's eye. Instruments there recorded a pressure of 904 hPa and gusts near 250 km/h before being damaged. Those platform observations captured conditions within a storm that otherwise remained mostly over open water before landfall.
Damage along the Pilbara coast
Orson crossed the coast near Dampier and weakened rapidly inland. Pannawonica suffered the worst housing damage, with 70 homes affected. A new gas platform was damaged, delaying its project, and five people died offshore.
Total damage was estimated at A$20 million in 1989 values. The circulation accelerated southeast across Western Australia and dissipated after reaching the Great Australian Bight on 24 April. Orson's name was retired.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Orson in brief
What was Cyclone Orson's highest wind speed?
161 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Apr 22, 1989, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Cyclone Orson?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Apr 22, 1989, 06:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Cyclone Orson's lowest pressure?
905 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Apr 21, 1989, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Cyclone Orson occur?
The archived track runs from Apr 16, 1989, 06:00 AM UTC to Apr 24, 1989, 12:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Apr 16, 1989, 06:00 AM UTC to Apr 23, 1989, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Cyclone Orson form?
In the South Indian basin, in the 1989 season. Its first archived position is 10.6°S, 127.6°E on Apr 16, 1989, 06:00 AM UTC.
Did Cyclone Orson make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 130 mph on Apr 22, 1989, 09:00 PM 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