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All storm pages · 1989 Atlantic season

Hurricane Hugo 1989

Category 5 hurricane · Atlantic · September 10 to September 22, 1989

No storm in the record came ashore in South Carolina with stronger winds than Hugo's 140 mph landfall on September 22, 1989; 39 storms have a landfall record there. No storm in the record came ashore in Guadeloupe with stronger winds than its 140 mph landfall on September 17, 1989; 8 storms have a landfall record there. Its 125 mph landfall in Puerto Rico on September 18, 1989 ranks the second-strongest of the 9 storms with a landfall record there. The name Hugo is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Hugo (1989) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N50°N90°W80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°W20°WGuadeloupe, 140 mphUS Virgin Islands, 140 mphPuerto Rico, 125 mphSouth Carolina, 140 mphPeak 160 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 500 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Hugo (1989) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160200Sep 11Sep 13Sep 15Sep 17Sep 19Sep 21Sep 23Sep 25mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 13.2°N, 20.0°W
  2. Tropical storm far out at sea, at 12.5°N, 29.2°W
  3. Hurricane 930 miles east-northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  4. Major hurricane 615 miles east of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados
  5. Peak 350 miles east-northeast of Bridgetown, Saint Michael, Barbados; lowest pressure 918 mb
  6. Landfall Guadeloupe
  7. Landfall US Virgin Islands: Category 4, 140 mph, 940 mb
  8. Landfall Puerto Rico
  9. Landfall Puerto Rico: Category 3, 125 mph, 946 mb
  10. Landfall South Carolina
  11. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 10 miles northwest of Erie, Pennsylvania
  12. Last record 790 miles north-northeast of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind160 mph · tied 28th of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure918 mb · tied 23rd of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy42.7 · 29th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone12.2 days · tied 123rd of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

It reached Category 5 with 160 mph winds, one of 44 Atlantic storms to do so since 1851.

It has landfall records in 4 different places: Guadeloupe, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and South Carolina.

No other storm of the 1989 Atlantic season matched its 160 mph peak; the season had 15 storms.

It generated 32% of the season's accumulated cyclone energy, more than any other 1989 storm.

Its winds climbed 60 mph in the 24 hours to September 15.

In the 1989 season

04080120160200Hugo

Storm 11 of 15 in 1989, hurricane 6 of 7; it formed after Gabrielle and before Iris. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of at least 8 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Christiansted, the US Virgin Islands5 mi140 mphSeptember 18
Rock Hill, South Carolina6 mi75 mphSeptember 22
Charleston, West Virginia9 mi45 mphSeptember 22
Charleston, South Carolina10 mi130 mphSeptember 22
Sumter, South Carolina10 mi90 mphSeptember 22
Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, France11 mi140 mphSeptember 17
Hickory, North Carolina13 mi70 mphSeptember 22
Columbia, South Carolina15 mi85 mphSeptember 22

Every storm within 50 miles of Charleston, South Carolina

Similar landfalls in Guadeloupe

Storms whose strongest landfall record in Guadeloupe came closest to Hugo's 140 mph:

All 8 storms with a landfall record in Guadeloupe

Also peaked at 160 mph

Of 16 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: