The 1981 season

Tropical Storm Holly (1981)

Tropical Storm Holly peaked at 45 kt in the Western Pacific between April 28, 1981 and May 10, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 996 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Holly, 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
April 28, 1981 to May 10, 1981
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 45 kt (52 mph)
Lowest pressure
996 mb (29.41 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 1120 km (696 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.1
Identifier
WP031981

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 28, 00:004.1N 163.6EDisturbance
Apr 28, 06:004.5N 163.4EDisturbance
Apr 28, 12:004.8N 163.2EDisturbance
Apr 28, 18:005.2N 163.0EDisturbance
Apr 29, 00:005.6N 162.7E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Apr 29, 06:006.1N 162.3E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Apr 29, 12:006.4N 162.0E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Apr 29, 18:006.7N 161.7E30 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Apr 30, 00:007.1N 161.3E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 30, 06:007.8N 160.5E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Apr 30, 12:008.5N 159.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 30, 18:009.1N 158.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 1, 00:009.3N 157.2E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 1, 06:009.3N 156.3E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 1, 12:009.4N 155.2E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 1, 18:009.5N 154.1E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 2, 00:009.7N 153.3E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 2, 06:009.8N 152.6E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
May 2, 12:009.9N 151.8E45 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 2, 18:0010.0N 151.3E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 3, 00:0010.1N 151.0E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 3, 06:0010.3N 150.8E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 3, 12:0010.4N 150.7E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 3, 18:0010.6N 150.6E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 4, 00:0010.7N 150.5E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 4, 06:0011.0N 150.3E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 4, 12:0011.3N 149.9E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
May 4, 18:0011.3N 149.7E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 5, 00:0011.3N 149.5E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 5, 06:0011.4N 149.2E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 5, 12:0011.5N 149.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 5, 18:0011.6N 148.7E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 6, 00:0011.7N 148.4E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
May 6, 06:0011.7N 147.9E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 6, 12:0011.8N 147.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 6, 18:0011.8N 146.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
May 7, 00:0011.8N 146.2E25 kt1004 mbMixed
May 7, 06:0011.9N 145.3E25 kt1004 mbMixed
May 7, 12:0011.9N 144.6E20 kt1006 mbMixed
May 7, 18:0011.9N 143.8E20 kt1006 mbMixed
May 8, 00:0012.0N 143.1E20 kt1008 mbMixed
May 8, 06:0012.3N 141.9E20 ktMixed
May 8, 12:0012.4N 140.8E20 ktTropical storm
May 8, 18:0012.4N 139.9E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 00:0012.5N 139.3E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 06:0012.6N 138.5E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 12:0012.7N 137.8E20 ktTropical storm
May 9, 18:0012.9N 137.2E20 ktTropical storm
May 10, 00:0013.2N 136.4E15 ktTropical storm
May 10, 06:0013.4N 135.8E15 ktNot reported

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.