The 1881 season

Unnamed hurricane (1881)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 1 in the North Atlantic between August 11, 1881 and August 21, 1881.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1881 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
August 11, 1881 to August 21, 1881
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1069 km (664 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
17.0
Identifier
AL031881

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Aug 11, 00:0016.0N 31.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 06:0016.0N 32.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 12:0016.0N 33.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 11, 18:0016.0N 34.0W80 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 00:0016.1N 35.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 06:0016.2N 36.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 12:0016.2N 37.3W80 ktHurricane
Aug 12, 18:0016.5N 38.5W80 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 00:0016.7N 39.7W80 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 06:0017.2N 40.9W80 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 12:0017.7N 41.7W80 ktHurricane
Aug 13, 18:0018.2N 42.8W80 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 00:0018.7N 43.7W80 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 06:0019.4N 44.7W80 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 12:0020.0N 45.5W80 ktHurricane
Aug 14, 18:0020.9N 46.4W80 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 00:0021.7N 47.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 06:0022.5N 47.8W70 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 12:0023.2N 48.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 15, 18:0024.1N 49.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 00:0024.7N 49.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 06:0025.8N 50.0W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 12:0026.7N 50.5W70 ktHurricane
Aug 16, 18:0027.7N 50.9W70 ktHurricane
Aug 17, 00:0028.6N 51.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 06:0029.7N 51.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 12:0030.5N 51.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 17, 18:0031.3N 51.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 00:0032.2N 51.3W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 06:0033.0N 51.2W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 12:0034.0N 51.0W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 18, 18:0035.5N 50.5W60 ktTropical storm
Aug 19, 00:0036.0N 48.5WTropical storm
Aug 19, 06:0036.3N 48.0WTropical storm
Aug 19, 12:0036.5N 47.5WTropical storm
Aug 19, 18:0037.4N 46.5WTropical storm
Aug 20, 00:0038.3N 45.5WTropical storm
Aug 20, 06:0039.2N 44.5WTropical storm
Aug 20, 12:0040.0N 43.5WTropical storm
Aug 20, 18:0040.4N 40.8WTropical storm
Aug 21, 00:0040.8N 38.2WExtratropical
Aug 21, 06:0041.2N 35.7WExtratropical
Aug 21, 12:0041.5N 33.0WExtratropical
Aug 21, 18:0042.0N 30.5WExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1881

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.