Hurricane Dean (1989)

Hurricane Dean

Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Dean nearing Atlantic Canada
Formed	July 31, 1989
Dissipated	August 9, 1989
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 105 mph (165 km/h)
Lowest pressure	968 mbar (hPa); 28.59 inHg
Fatalities	None reported
Damage	$8.9 million (1989 USD)
Areas affected	Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Atlantic Canada
Part of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Dean was the fourth named storm and second hurricane of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season. Dean formed on July 31 and reached tropical storm status the following day east of the Leeward Islands. Dean brushed the northern Leeward Islands as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale, bringing light rain but producing no damage, before turning northward and striking Bermuda as a Category 2 hurricane. Dean continued northward before making landfall in southeastern Newfoundland.

Since Dean was initially difficult to forecast, it posed a possible threat to the Lesser Antilles, as a result, several evacuations occurred, and many hurricane watches and warning were issued. However, as Dean turned northward, all watches and warnings in the Lesser Antilles were discontinued. As Dean approached Bermuda, a hurricane watch was issued, and was later upgraded to a hurricane warning. After Dean tracked away from the island, the hurricane warning was discontinued. In addition, a hurricane warning was briefly in effect for Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The storm left $8.9 million (1989 USD, $17.2 million 2017 USD) and sixteen injuries across Bermuda, but no fatalities were reported. In Atlantic Canada, Dean dropped light rain across Nova Scotia and Sable Island.

A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on July 27 as detected by Meteosat imagery. By July 31 the tropical wave began being classified, using the Dvorak Technique, by satellite analysts at the National Hurricane Center, in part due to persistent deep convection. Shortly thereafter the system organized enough that the National Hurricane Center began classifying it as Tropical Depression Five, roughly halfway between Cape Verde and the Lesser Antilles. The depression moved westward at 17 mph (28 km/h), intensifying as it did so, and eventually intensified enough to be upgraded to a tropical storm, which was named Dean by the National Hurricane Center.