Track map & timeline · Atlantic · May 6–9, 1981
TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. Click any point or table row to jump there.
01 · The story
Tropical Storm Arlene (1981) was a tropical storm of the 1981 Atlantic season. It formed on May 6, 1981, 158 mi WSW of George Town, Cayman Islands, reached its peak of 58 mph (93 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 999 mb on May 8, 1981, and never made landfall. The storm lasted 2.5 days and travelled about 928 miles (1,493 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Impact
| City | Distance to center | When (UTC) | Storm strength then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Camagüey, Camagüey, Cuba | 35 mi | May 8 · 05:00 UTC | TD 37 mph |
| Holguín, Holguín Province, Cuba | 68 mi | May 8 · 08:00 UTC | TD 35 mph |
Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.
04 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1006 mb | 18.4°N 83.6°W | 158 mi WSW of George Town, Cayman Islands |
| May 7 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1006 mb | 18.4°N 82.7°W | 106 mi SW of George Town, Cayman Islands |
| May 7 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1005 mb | 18.6°N 81.7°W | 52 mi SSW of George Town, Cayman Islands |
| May 7 12:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1003 mb | 19.0°N 80.6°W | 43 mi ESE of Frank Sound, Cayman Islands |
| May 7 18:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1000 mb | 19.6°N 79.7°W | 99 mi ENE of Frank Sound, Cayman Islands |
| May 8 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | 999 mb | 20.3°N 78.7°W | 54 mi WSW of Santa Cruz del Sur, Camagüey, Cuba |
| May 8 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1003 mb | 21.1°N 77.4°W | near Guáimaro, Camagüey, Cuba |
| May 8 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1006 mb | 22.4°N 76.4°W | 81 mi NE of Nuevitas, Camagüey, Cuba |
| May 8 18:00 | TS | 58 mph | 1004 mb | 23.0°N 74.5°W | 161 mi NNE of Banes, Holguín Province, Cuba |
| May 9 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1006 mb | 23.4°N 72.8°W | 117 mi NNW of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| May 9 06:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1010 mb | 24.0°N 71.0°W | 173 mi NNE of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Arlene. Its closest approach to a major city was 35 miles from Camagüey, Camagüey, Cuba.
At its peak on May 8, 1981, Arlene was a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 58 mph (93 km/h) and a central pressure of 999 mb.
2.5 days, from May 6, 1981 to May 9, 1981. It travelled about 928 miles.
The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.
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