The 1981 season

Typhoon Bill (1981)

Typhoon Bill reached Category 2 in the Western Pacific between September 1, 1981 and September 8, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Bill, 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.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
September 1, 1981 to September 8, 1981
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 578 km (359 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
7.7
Identifier
WP191981

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
Sep 1, 12:0022.5N 160.5EDisturbance
Sep 1, 18:0022.4N 159.6E1010 mbMixed
Sep 2, 00:0022.2N 158.4E1010 mbMixed
Sep 2, 06:0022.0N 157.2E1008 mbMixed
Sep 2, 12:0021.9N 156.2E1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 2, 18:0022.0N 155.2E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 00:0022.2N 154.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 06:0022.4N 153.4E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 12:0022.6N 152.4E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 3, 18:0022.8N 151.5E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 00:0023.2N 150.4E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 06:0023.9N 149.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 12:0024.7N 148.3E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 4, 18:0025.3N 147.4E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 00:0026.1N 146.7E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 06:0027.2N 146.0E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 12:0028.3N 145.6E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 5, 18:0029.4N 145.4E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 00:0030.9N 145.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 06:0032.8N 146.2E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 12:0034.7N 147.4E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 6, 18:0036.6N 149.5E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 00:0038.6N 152.9E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 7, 06:0040.5N 157.6E40 kt990 mbMixed
Sep 7, 12:0042.1N 161.3E990 mbExtratropical
Sep 7, 18:0043.7N 167.0E992 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 00:0045.0N 172.0E992 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 06:0046.0N 177.0E994 mbExtratropical
Sep 8, 12:0047.0N 182.0EExtratropical

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.