Cyclone Arthur (1981)
Cyclone Arthur reached Category 1 in the South Pacific between January 11, 1981 and January 17, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Cyclone Arthur. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- January 11, 1981 to January 17, 1981
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 965 mb (28.50 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 4.8
- Identifier
- SH091981
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) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 00:00 | 11.8S 185.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 11, 06:00 | 12.1S 184.4E | Not reported | ||
| Jan 11, 12:00 | 12.3S 183.7E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 11, 18:00 | 12.5S 179.5W | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 12, 00:00 | 12.8S 179.9E | 25 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 12, 06:00 | 13.2S 179.3E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 12, 12:00 | 13.5S 178.7E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 12, 18:00 | 13.9S 178.0E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 13, 00:00 | 14.4S 177.4E | 40 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 13, 06:00 | 14.9S 177.0E | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 13, 12:00 | 15.4S 176.9E | 50 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 13, 18:00 | 16.0S 176.9E | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 14, 00:00 | 16.7S 177.0E | 60 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 14, 06:00 | 17.5S 177.2E | 65 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 14, 12:00 | 18.3S 177.6E | 70 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 14, 18:00 | 19.1S 178.0E | 75 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 15, 00:00 | 19.9S 178.5E | 70 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 15, 06:00 | 20.8S 179.0E | 65 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 15, 12:00 | 21.6S 179.5E | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 15, 18:00 | 22.4S 179.5E | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 16, 00:00 | 23.8S 179.0E | 45 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 16, 06:00 | 25.3S 178.4E | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 16, 12:00 | 26.2S 177.9E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 16, 18:00 | 26.8S 177.3E | 30 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Jan 17, 00:00 | 27.5S 177.5E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 1981
- Tropical Storm DiolaSouth Pacific · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm BetsySouth Pacific · 1981
- Cyclone CliffSouth Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm EddieSouth Pacific · 1981
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm DamanSouth Pacific · 1981
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1981
- Cyclone FredaSouth Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm EsauSouth Pacific · 1981
- Cyclone TahmarSouth Pacific · 1981
- Cyclone MaxSouth Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm FranSouth Pacific · 1981
- Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 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.