The 1981 season

Typhoon Ike (1981)

Typhoon Ike reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between June 7, 1981 and June 17, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Ike, 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
June 7, 1981 to June 17, 1981
Peak strength
Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.5
Identifier
WP041981

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
Jun 7, 00:0016.7N 118.8EDisturbance
Jun 7, 06:0016.8N 118.8EDisturbance
Jun 7, 12:0017.0N 118.6EDisturbance
Jun 7, 18:0016.7N 118.7E20 ktDisturbance
Jun 8, 00:0017.4N 117.3E20 ktMixed
Jun 8, 06:0017.8N 115.8E25 ktMixed
Jun 8, 12:0017.9N 114.3E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jun 8, 18:0017.8N 112.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jun 9, 00:0017.6N 111.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jun 9, 06:0017.6N 111.2E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jun 9, 12:0017.4N 111.1E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Jun 9, 18:0017.2N 111.3E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 10, 00:0017.3N 111.5E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 10, 06:0017.5N 111.6E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 10, 12:0017.7N 111.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 10, 18:0017.9N 111.8E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 11, 00:0018.0N 112.0E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 11, 06:0018.2N 112.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jun 11, 12:0018.4N 112.7E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 11, 18:0018.7N 113.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 12, 00:0019.1N 115.0E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 12, 06:0019.7N 116.4E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 12, 12:0020.4N 117.4E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jun 12, 18:0021.4N 118.8E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 00:0022.2N 119.9E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 06:0023.4N 121.1E50 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 12:0024.5N 121.8E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 13, 18:0025.8N 122.3E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 00:0027.0N 122.9E40 kt985 mbMixed
Jun 14, 06:0027.6N 123.5E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 12:0028.0N 124.2E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jun 14, 18:0028.0N 125.2E998 mbTropical storm
Jun 15, 00:0028.3N 126.3E1000 mbMixed
Jun 15, 06:0028.8N 125.6E1000 mbMixed
Jun 15, 12:0029.6N 125.9E1002 mbMixed
Jun 15, 18:0030.2N 126.3E1002 mbMixed
Jun 16, 00:0030.4N 126.7E1004 mbMixed
Jun 16, 06:0030.9N 127.1E1004 mbMixed
Jun 16, 12:0031.6N 127.4E1006 mbMixed
Jun 16, 18:0032.2N 127.5E1006 mbMixed
Jun 17, 00:0032.9N 127.4E1008 mbMixed
Jun 17, 06:0033.7N 127.6E1006 mbMixed
Jun 17, 12:0034.1N 127.9EExtratropical

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.