Track map & timeline · Atlantic · September 21 – October 3, 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
Hurricane Irene (1981) was a Category 3 hurricane of the 1981 Atlantic season. It formed on September 21, 1981, reached its peak of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 959 mb on September 28, 1981, and never made landfall. It rapidly intensified by 35 mph in 24 hours (to 104 mph on September 25, 1981). The storm lasted 11.8 days and travelled about 5,466 miles (8,795 km).
02 · Intensity
03 · Timeline
| Date · UTC | Status | Wind | Pressure | Position | Nearest place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21 12:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1015 mb | 13.5°N 32.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 21 18:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1013 mb | 13.3°N 33.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 00:00 | TD | 29 mph | 1012 mb | 13.1°N 34.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 06:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1011 mb | 12.8°N 36.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 12:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1010 mb | 12.6°N 37.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 22 18:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1009 mb | 12.5°N 38.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 00:00 | TD | 35 mph | 1007 mb | 12.4°N 39.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 06:00 | TS | 40 mph | 1005 mb | 12.5°N 40.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 12:00 | TS | 46 mph | 1003 mb | 12.7°N 42.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 23 18:00 | TS | 52 mph | 1001 mb | 13.0°N 43.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 00:00 | TS | 52 mph | 999 mb | 13.3°N 45.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 06:00 | TS | 58 mph | 996 mb | 13.8°N 46.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 12:00 | TS | 63 mph | 994 mb | 14.3°N 47.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 24 18:00 | TS | 69 mph | 991 mb | 15.0°N 48.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 987 mb | 15.6°N 50.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 06:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 983 mb | 16.6°N 51.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 980 mb | 17.4°N 52.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 25 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 977 mb | 18.2°N 52.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 976 mb | 19.1°N 53.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 976 mb | 19.7°N 54.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 12:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 980 mb | 20.3°N 55.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 26 18:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 982 mb | 21.0°N 55.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 00:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 968 mb | 21.8°N 56.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 06:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 966 mb | 22.4°N 56.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 12:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 970 mb | 23.0°N 57.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 27 18:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 966 mb | 23.8°N 57.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 00:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 962 mb | 24.7°N 56.9°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 06:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 966 mb | 25.8°N 56.8°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 12:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 959 mb | 27.0°N 56.7°W | open ocean |
| Sep 28 18:00 | Cat 3 | 121 mph | 960 mb | 28.4°N 56.2°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 00:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 962 mb | 29.8°N 55.3°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 06:00 | Cat 3 | 115 mph | 965 mb | 31.3°N 54.0°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 12:00 | Cat 2 | 109 mph | 968 mb | 32.6°N 52.6°W | open ocean |
| Sep 29 18:00 | Cat 2 | 104 mph | 972 mb | 34.1°N 50.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 00:00 | Cat 2 | 98 mph | 976 mb | 35.9°N 47.5°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 06:00 | Cat 1 | 92 mph | 980 mb | 37.5°N 45.1°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 12:00 | Cat 1 | 86 mph | 983 mb | 38.9°N 42.4°W | open ocean |
| Sep 30 18:00 | Cat 1 | 81 mph | 986 mb | 40.0°N 39.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 00:00 | Cat 1 | 75 mph | 989 mb | 41.3°N 36.1°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 06:00 | TS | 69 mph | 991 mb | 42.5°N 33.7°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 12:00 | TS | 69 mph | 994 mb | 43.7°N 32.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 1 18:00 | TS | 63 mph | 996 mb | 44.8°N 30.3°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 00:00 | TS | 58 mph | 999 mb | 45.1°N 28.5°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 06:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | — | 45.4°N 25.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 12:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | — | 45.2°N 21.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 2 18:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | — | 44.5°N 17.0°W | open ocean |
| Oct 3 00:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | — | 43.6°N 11.5°W | 144 mi WNW of Carballo, Spain |
| Oct 3 06:00 | TS extratropical | 52 mph | — | 45.0°N 4.0°W | 106 mi N of Santander, Spain |
⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track
Questions
No — the NOAA best-track record shows no landfall for Irene.
At its peak on September 28, 1981, Irene was a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 121 mph (194 km/h) and a central pressure of 959 mb.
11.8 days, from September 21, 1981 to October 3, 1981, including 150 hours at hurricane strength (36 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,466 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.
This site was built by Digital Dynamics Kft.
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