The 1981 hurricane season

Every storm track on one map · Atlantic & Pacific · 37 systems

Atlantic storms
12
7 hurricanes · 3 major
Atlantic ACE
100
1991–2020 avg ≈ 123
Strongest
132 mph
Harvey
Landfalling
0
Atlantic storms
Pacific storms
15
8 hurricanes · 1 major
Pacific strongest
127 mph
Norma

TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · hover a track to highlight it, click to open the storm’s own page with an animated replay.

01 · Summary

How the 1981 season went

The 1981 Atlantic season produced 12 tropical storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes (Cat 3+), with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 100. The strongest was Hurricane Harvey at 132 mph / 946 mb. 0 storms made landfall.

The 1981 Eastern Pacific season (Eastern and Central Pacific) produced 15 tropical storms, 8 hurricanes and 1 major hurricanes (Cat 3+), with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of 73. The strongest was Hurricane Norma at 127 mph. 0 storms made landfall.

02 · Timeline

Storm by storm, month by month

APRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVUnnamed storm #1 — April 6–7, 1981Unnamed storm #1 TDUnnamed storm #2 — April 19–21, 1981Unnamed storm #2 TDTropical Storm Arlene — May 6–9, 1981Arlene TSTropical Storm Adrian — May 30 – June 4, 1981Adrian TSUnnamed storm #4 — June 3–5, 1981Unnamed storm #4 TDUnnamed storm #5 — June 17–19, 1981Unnamed storm #5 TDHurricane Beatriz — June 28 – July 4, 1981Beatriz Cat 1Tropical Storm Bret — June 29 – July 1, 1981Bret TSUnnamed storm #7 — July 2–4, 1981Unnamed storm #7 TDTropical Storm Calvin — July 4–9, 1981Calvin TSHurricane Dora — July 10–16, 1981Dora Cat 1Tropical Storm Eugene — July 16–21, 1981Eugene TSUnnamed storm #8 — July 25–26, 1981Unnamed storm #8 TDTropical Storm Cindy — August 2–5, 1981Cindy TSHurricane Fernanda — August 6–13, 1981Fernanda Cat 2Hurricane Dennis — August 7–22, 1981Dennis Cat 1Hurricane Greg — August 13–22, 1981Greg Cat 1Unnamed storm #11 — August 17–21, 1981Unnamed storm #11 TDHurricane Hilary — August 21–28, 1981Hilary Cat 1Unnamed storm #12 — August 26–29, 1981Unnamed storm #12 TDTropical Storm Irwin — August 27–31, 1981Irwin TSHurricane Emily — August 31 – September 12, 1981Emily Cat 1Hurricane Floyd — September 3–12, 1981Floyd Cat 3Hurricane Gert — September 7–15, 1981Gert Cat 2Hurricane Harvey — September 11–20, 1981Harvey Cat 4Unnamed storm #17 — September 12–14, 1981Unnamed storm #17 TDHurricane Jova — September 14–21, 1981Jova Cat 1Tropical Storm Knut — September 19–21, 1981Knut TSHurricane Irene — September 21 – October 3, 1981Irene Cat 3Unnamed storm #19 — September 26 – October 4, 1981Unnamed storm #19 TDTropical Storm Lidia — October 6–8, 1981Lidia TSTropical Storm Max — October 7–10, 1981Max TSHurricane Norma — October 8–12, 1981Norma Cat 3Hurricane Otis — October 24–30, 1981Otis Cat 1Tropical Storm Jose — October 29 – November 2, 1981Jose TSHurricane Katrina — November 3–7, 1981Katrina Cat 1Unnamed storm #22 — November 12–17, 1981Unnamed storm #22 TS

Each bar is one storm’s life, colored by its strength at that moment (faded = post-tropical). Click a bar to open the storm.

03 · Atlantic

Atlantic storms of 1981

StormDatesPeakPressureLandfallACE
Unnamed storm #1Apr 6 – Apr 7TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #2Apr 19 – Apr 21TD 29 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm ArleneMay 6 – May 9TS 58 mph999 mb—0.7
Unnamed storm #4Jun 3 – Jun 5TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #5Jun 17 – Jun 19TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm BretJun 29 – Jul 1TS 69 mph996 mb—2.0
Unnamed storm #7Jul 2 – Jul 4TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #8Jul 25 – Jul 26TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm CindyAug 2 – Aug 5TS 58 mph1002 mb—1.5
Hurricane DennisAug 7 – Aug 22Cat 1 81 mph995 mb—6.4
Unnamed storm #11Aug 17 – Aug 21TD 35 mph——0.0
Unnamed storm #12Aug 26 – Aug 29TD 35 mph——0.0
Hurricane EmilyAug 31 – Sep 12Cat 1 92 mph966 mb—15.2
Hurricane FloydSep 3 – Sep 12Cat 3 115 mph975 mb—13.8
Hurricane GertSep 7 – Sep 15Cat 2 104 mph988 mb—10.1
Hurricane HarveySep 11 – Sep 20Cat 4 132 mph946 mb—16.4
Unnamed storm #17Sep 12 – Sep 14TD 35 mph——0.0
Hurricane IreneSep 21 – Oct 3Cat 3 121 mph959 mb—22.2
Unnamed storm #19Sep 26 – Oct 4TD 35 mph——0.0
Tropical Storm JoseOct 29 – Nov 2TS 52 mph998 mb—1.6
Hurricane KatrinaNov 3 – Nov 7Cat 1 86 mph980 mb—4.2
Unnamed storm #22Nov 12 – Nov 17TS 69 mph978 mb—6.2

04 · Pacific

Eastern & Central Pacific storms of 1981

StormDatesPeakPressureLandfallACE
Tropical Storm AdrianMay 30 – Jun 4TS 46 mph——0.9
Hurricane BeatrizJun 28 – Jul 4Cat 1 86 mph——7.5
Tropical Storm CalvinJul 4 – Jul 9TS 52 mph——1.9
Hurricane DoraJul 10 – Jul 16Cat 1 92 mph——8.3
Tropical Storm EugeneJul 16 – Jul 21TS 52 mph——1.5
Hurricane FernandaAug 6 – Aug 13Cat 2 104 mph——9.1
Hurricane GregAug 13 – Aug 22Cat 1 75 mph——6.0
Hurricane HilaryAug 21 – Aug 28Cat 1 86 mph——5.9
Tropical Storm IrwinAug 27 – Aug 31TS 52 mph——0.8
Hurricane JovaSep 14 – Sep 21Cat 1 86 mph——7.6
Tropical Storm KnutSep 19 – Sep 21TS 63 mph——2.3
Tropical Storm LidiaOct 6 – Oct 8TS 52 mph——0.9
Tropical Storm MaxOct 7 – Oct 10TS 52 mph——1.1
Hurricane NormaOct 8 – Oct 12Cat 3 127 mph——11.0
Hurricane OtisOct 24 – Oct 30Cat 1 86 mph——8.1
← Previous season1980Next season →1982

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