Hurricane Irene (1981)
Hurricane Irene reached Category 3 in the North Atlantic between September 21, 1981 and October 3, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 959 mb.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Irene, 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
- North Atlantic
- Dates
- September 21, 1981 to October 3, 1981
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 105 kt (121 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 959 mb (28.32 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 44 km (27 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 22.2
- Fastest the center moved
- 59 kt (68 mph)
- Identifier
- AL181981
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 12:00 | 13.5N 32.5W | 25 kt | 1015 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 21, 18:00 | 13.3N 33.6W | 25 kt | 1013 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 22, 00:00 | 13.1N 34.9W | 25 kt | 1012 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 22, 06:00 | 12.8N 36.0W | 30 kt | 1011 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 22, 12:00 | 12.6N 37.2W | 30 kt | 1010 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 22, 18:00 | 12.5N 38.4W | 30 kt | 1009 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 23, 00:00 | 12.4N 39.6W | 30 kt | 1007 mb | Tropical depression |
| Sep 23, 06:00 | 12.5N 40.8W | 35 kt | 1005 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 12:00 | 12.7N 42.2W | 40 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 23, 18:00 | 13.0N 43.8W | 45 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 00:00 | 13.3N 45.3W | 45 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 06:00 | 13.8N 46.7W | 50 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 12:00 | 14.3N 47.8W | 55 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 24, 18:00 | 15.0N 48.9W | 60 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Sep 25, 00:00 | 15.6N 50.1W | 65 kt | 987 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 06:00 | 16.6N 51.2W | 70 kt | 983 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 12:00 | 17.4N 52.0W | 80 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 25, 18:00 | 18.2N 52.8W | 90 kt | 977 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 00:00 | 19.1N 53.5W | 85 kt | 976 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 06:00 | 19.7N 54.3W | 80 kt | 976 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 12:00 | 20.3N 55.1W | 80 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 26, 18:00 | 21.0N 55.7W | 85 kt | 982 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 00:00 | 21.8N 56.4W | 95 kt | 968 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 06:00 | 22.4N 56.8W | 90 kt | 966 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 12:00 | 23.0N 57.2W | 90 kt | 970 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 27, 18:00 | 23.8N 57.2W | 95 kt | 966 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 00:00 | 24.7N 56.9W | 100 kt | 962 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 06:00 | 25.8N 56.8W | 105 kt | 966 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 12:00 | 27.0N 56.7W | 105 kt | 959 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 28, 18:00 | 28.4N 56.2W | 105 kt | 960 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 00:00 | 29.8N 55.3W | 100 kt | 962 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 06:00 | 31.3N 54.0W | 100 kt | 965 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 12:00 | 32.6N 52.6W | 95 kt | 968 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 29, 18:00 | 34.1N 50.4W | 90 kt | 972 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 00:00 | 35.9N 47.5W | 85 kt | 976 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 06:00 | 37.5N 45.1W | 80 kt | 980 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 12:00 | 38.9N 42.4W | 75 kt | 983 mb | Hurricane |
| Sep 30, 18:00 | 40.0N 39.5W | 70 kt | 986 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 1, 00:00 | 41.3N 36.1W | 65 kt | 989 mb | Hurricane |
| Oct 1, 06:00 | 42.5N 33.7W | 60 kt | 991 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 1, 12:00 | 43.7N 32.0W | 60 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 1, 18:00 | 44.8N 30.3W | 55 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 2, 00:00 | 45.1N 28.5W | 50 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Oct 2, 06:00 | 45.4N 25.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 2, 12:00 | 45.2N 21.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 2, 18:00 | 44.5N 17.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 3, 00:00 | 43.6N 11.5W | 45 kt | Extratropical | |
| Oct 3, 06:00 | 45.0N 4.0W | 45 kt | Extratropical |
Other North Atlantic storms of 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Tropical Storm ArleneNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Tropical Storm BretNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Tropical Storm CindyNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Hurricane DennisNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Hurricane EmilyNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Hurricane FloydNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Hurricane GertNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Hurricane HarveyNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Tropical Storm JoseNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Hurricane KatrinaNorth Atlantic · 1981
- Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 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.