The 1981 season

Typhoon Agnes (1981)

Typhoon Agnes reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between August 25, 1981 and September 6, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Agnes, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1981 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
Western Pacific
Dates
August 25, 1981 to September 6, 1981
Peak strength
Category 2, 95 kt (109 mph)
Lowest pressure
950 mb (28.05 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
13.9
Fastest the center moved
44 kt (51 mph)
Identifier
WP181981

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 25, 06:0016.0N 148.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 25, 12:0015.2N 145.8E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 25, 18:0015.8N 145.0E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Aug 26, 00:0016.2N 144.1E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Aug 26, 06:0016.6N 143.1E30 kt1006 mbMixed
Aug 26, 12:0016.9N 142.0E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 26, 18:0017.2N 140.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 00:0017.3N 139.7E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 06:0017.5N 138.4E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 12:0017.9N 137.2E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 27, 18:0018.6N 136.2E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 00:0019.2N 135.1E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 06:0019.8N 134.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 12:0020.5N 133.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 28, 18:0021.1N 132.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 00:0021.8N 131.1E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 06:0022.4N 130.1E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 12:0023.1N 129.0E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 29, 18:0023.7N 128.0E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 00:0024.3N 127.2E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 06:0024.9N 126.4E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 12:0025.7N 125.9E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Aug 30, 18:0026.5N 125.3E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 00:0027.3N 124.8E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 06:0028.2N 124.4E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 12:0029.0N 123.9E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Aug 31, 18:0029.7N 123.4E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 00:0030.3N 123.2E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 06:0030.8N 123.0E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 12:0031.4N 123.0E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 1, 18:0031.8N 123.2E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 00:0032.1N 123.6E55 kt970 mbMixed
Sep 2, 06:0032.4N 123.9E55 kt975 mbMixed
Sep 2, 12:0032.7N 124.5E55 kt975 mbMixed
Sep 2, 18:0033.0N 125.1E50 kt975 mbMixed
Sep 3, 00:0033.3N 125.9E50 kt975 mbMixed
Sep 3, 06:0033.9N 127.3E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0034.5N 128.6E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0036.5N 132.5E988 mbMixed
Sep 4, 00:0039.3N 136.8E984 mbMixed
Sep 4, 06:0042.0N 141.0E976 mbExtratropical
Sep 4, 12:0044.6N 144.8E978 mbExtratropical
Sep 4, 18:0046.5N 147.0E978 mbExtratropical
Sep 5, 00:0048.3N 149.0E978 mbExtratropical
Sep 5, 06:0050.0N 151.5E978 mbExtratropical
Sep 5, 12:0050.8N 154.0E978 mbExtratropical
Sep 5, 18:0051.5N 157.0E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 6, 00:0051.8N 162.0E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 6, 06:0052.7N 168.0E980 mbExtratropical
Sep 6, 12:0053.0N 175.0E980 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific storms of 1981

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.