Tropical Storm Fran (1981)
Tropical Storm Fran peaked at 50 kt in the South Pacific between March 17, 1981 and March 24, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Tropical Storm Fran, 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
- March 17, 1981 to March 24, 1981
- Peak strength
- Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph), ten-minute wind
- Lowest pressure
- 985 mb (29.09 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 1125 km (699 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 1.8
- Identifier
- SH251981
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 12:00 | 13.3S 161.8W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 17, 18:00 | 13.6S 161.4W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 18, 00:00 | 13.8S 161.0W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 18, 06:00 | 13.9S 160.5W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 18, 12:00 | 14.0S 160.0W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 18, 18:00 | 14.2S 159.5W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 19, 00:00 | 14.4S 159.1W | 30 kt | 997 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 19, 06:00 | 14.6S 158.8W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 19, 12:00 | 14.9S 158.4W | 35 kt | 995 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 19, 18:00 | 15.6S 157.7W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 20, 00:00 | 16.5S 156.2W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 20, 06:00 | 16.8S 156.1W | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 20, 12:00 | 17.1S 156.0W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 20, 18:00 | 17.4S 156.0W | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 21, 00:00 | 17.8S 156.0W | 45 kt | 987 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 21, 06:00 | 18.4S 155.9W | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 21, 12:00 | 19.0S 155.7W | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 21, 18:00 | 19.5S 155.4W | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 22, 00:00 | 20.0S 154.9W | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 22, 06:00 | 21.0S 153.5W | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 22, 12:00 | 22.0S 152.0W | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 22, 18:00 | 22.8S 150.9W | Tropical storm | ||
| Mar 23, 00:00 | 23.5S 150.0W | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 23, 06:00 | 25.3S 148.2W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 23, 12:00 | 27.1S 146.0W | 40 kt | 990 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 23, 18:00 | 28.7S 143.3W | Not reported | ||
| Mar 24, 00:00 | 30.0S 140.2W | 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
- 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
- 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.