Hurricane Fernanda (1981)
Hurricane Fernanda reached Category 2 in the Eastern Pacific between August 6, 1981 and August 13, 1981.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Fernanda. 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
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- August 6, 1981 to August 13, 1981
- Peak strength
- Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 702 km (436 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 9.1
- Fastest the center moved
- 17 kt (20 mph)
- Identifier
- EP061981
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 12:00 | 12.0N 104.6W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 6, 18:00 | 12.1N 106.2W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 7, 00:00 | 12.1N 107.9W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 7, 06:00 | 12.2N 109.6W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 7, 12:00 | 12.3N 111.2W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 7, 18:00 | 12.6N 112.9W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 8, 00:00 | 12.8N 114.6W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 8, 06:00 | 13.3N 116.2W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 8, 12:00 | 13.9N 117.7W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 8, 18:00 | 14.5N 119.2W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 9, 00:00 | 14.8N 120.6W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 9, 06:00 | 14.9N 122.0W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 9, 12:00 | 15.1N 123.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 9, 18:00 | 15.5N 124.8W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 10, 00:00 | 15.8N 126.2W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 10, 06:00 | 16.5N 127.7W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 10, 12:00 | 17.1N 129.1W | 85 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 10, 18:00 | 17.8N 130.6W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 11, 00:00 | 18.8N 131.9W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 11, 06:00 | 19.8N 133.2W | 80 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 11, 12:00 | 20.8N 134.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Aug 11, 18:00 | 21.8N 135.7W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 12, 00:00 | 22.7N 137.0W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 12, 06:00 | 23.3N 137.5W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Aug 12, 12:00 | 23.7N 137.9W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 12, 18:00 | 24.1N 138.2W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Aug 13, 00:00 | 24.3N 138.7W | 25 kt | Tropical depression |
Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1981
- Tropical Storm AdrianEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane BeatrizEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm CalvinEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane DoraEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm EugeneEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane GregEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane HilaryEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm IrwinEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane JovaEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm KnutEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm LidiaEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm MaxEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane NormaEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane OtisEastern 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.
The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.