Tropical Storm Betsy (1981)
Tropical Storm Betsy peaked at 40 kt in the South Pacific between January 30, 1981 and February 4, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Betsy, 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.
The storm
- Basin
- South Pacific
- Dates
- January 30, 1981 to February 4, 1981
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 40 kt (46 mph), ten-minute wind
- Lowest pressure
- 990 mb (29.23 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 357 km (222 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 0.7
- Identifier
- SH141981
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 30, 00:00 | 17.0S 189.8E | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 30, 06:00 | 17.6S 189.8E | Not reported | ||
| Jan 30, 12:00 | 18.2S 189.7E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Jan 30, 18:00 | 18.7S 189.6E | Not reported | ||
| Jan 31, 00:00 | 19.0S 170.7W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 31, 06:00 | 19.2S 170.9W | Tropical storm | ||
| Jan 31, 12:00 | 19.5S 171.2W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Jan 31, 18:00 | 19.7S 171.4W | Tropical storm | ||
| Feb 1, 00:00 | 20.0S 171.7W | 35 kt | 995 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 1, 06:00 | 20.2S 172.1W | Tropical storm | ||
| Feb 1, 12:00 | 20.5S 172.6W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 1, 18:00 | 20.7S 173.2W | Tropical storm | ||
| Feb 2, 00:00 | 20.8S 173.9W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 2, 06:00 | 20.9S 174.7W | Tropical storm | ||
| Feb 2, 12:00 | 21.0S 175.5W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 2, 18:00 | 21.2S 176.5W | Tropical storm | ||
| Feb 3, 00:00 | 21.5S 177.6W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 3, 06:00 | 21.4S 180.8E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 3, 12:00 | 21.5S 180.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Feb 3, 18:00 | 21.5S 179.1E | Not reported | ||
| Feb 4, 00:00 | 21.5S 178.0E | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
Other South Pacific storms of 1981
- Tropical Storm DiolaSouth Pacific · 1981
- Cyclone ArthurSouth Pacific · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionSouth 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. This storm’s winds are ten-minute averages from its regional agency. They read about 12 percent lower than the one-minute winds US agencies use, so a Saffir-Simpson category is not given for it.
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.