The 1981 season

Tropical Storm Gerald (1981)

Tropical Storm Gerald peaked at 60 kt in the Western Pacific between April 12, 1981 and April 23, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Gerald, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
April 12, 1981 to April 23, 1981
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 967 km (601 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.2
Identifier
WP021981

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
Apr 12, 00:004.0N 161.8EDisturbance
Apr 12, 06:004.3N 161.0EDisturbance
Apr 12, 12:004.6N 160.3EDisturbance
Apr 12, 18:004.9N 159.7EDisturbance
Apr 13, 00:005.3N 159.2EDisturbance
Apr 13, 06:005.7N 158.8EDisturbance
Apr 13, 12:006.0N 158.5EDisturbance
Apr 13, 18:006.1N 158.0EDisturbance
Apr 14, 00:006.1N 157.5EDisturbance
Apr 14, 06:005.7N 157.1EDisturbance
Apr 14, 12:005.4N 156.5EDisturbance
Apr 14, 18:005.8N 155.6E20 ktDisturbance
Apr 15, 00:005.7N 154.7E25 kt1004 mbMixed
Apr 15, 06:005.6N 153.8E25 kt1000 mbMixed
Apr 15, 12:005.7N 152.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 18:005.9N 152.0E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 00:006.3N 151.1E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 06:007.5N 149.5E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 12:008.1N 147.8E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 18:008.4N 146.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 00:009.0N 146.0E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 06:009.9N 145.9E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 12:0011.0N 145.8E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 18:0011.7N 145.8E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 00:0012.2N 145.8E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 06:0012.8N 145.9E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 12:0013.4N 146.1E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 18:0013.9N 146.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 00:0014.6N 147.1E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 06:0015.3N 146.8E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 12:0015.4N 145.7E30 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 18:0014.7N 145.7E25 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 00:0015.3N 146.2E25 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 06:0015.5N 145.5E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 12:0016.1N 145.1E998 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 18:0017.0N 145.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 00:0017.6N 145.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 06:0018.3N 145.3E1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 12:0019.1N 145.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 18:0019.9N 146.0E1004 mbMixed
Apr 22, 00:0020.7N 146.5E1008 mbMixed
Apr 22, 06:0021.6N 147.1E1010 mbMixed
Apr 22, 12:0022.3N 148.0E1010 mbTropical storm
Apr 22, 18:0023.0N 148.8E1010 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 00:0023.5N 150.0E1010 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 06:0024.2N 151.3E1010 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 12:0024.6N 153.0E1012 mbTropical storm
Apr 23, 18:0025.0N 155.0E1012 mbTropical storm

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.