The 1981 season

Typhoon Kit (1981)

Typhoon Kit reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between December 9, 1981 and December 22, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 925 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Kit, 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
December 9, 1981 to December 22, 1981
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
925 mb (27.32 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
23.1
Identifier
WP281981

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
Dec 9, 00:005.2N 150.4E15 ktDisturbance
Dec 9, 06:005.6N 149.1E20 ktDisturbance
Dec 9, 12:006.0N 147.8E20 ktDisturbance
Dec 9, 18:006.8N 146.8E20 kt1006 mbMixed
Dec 10, 00:007.9N 146.7E20 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 06:008.5N 147.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 12:008.9N 147.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 10, 18:009.3N 147.7E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 00:009.8N 147.8E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 06:0010.2N 147.8E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 12:0010.4N 147.7E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Dec 11, 18:0010.7N 147.5E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 00:0011.0N 147.3E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 06:0011.2N 147.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 12:0011.5N 146.8E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 12, 18:0011.8N 146.4E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 00:0012.2N 145.8E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 06:0012.4N 144.9E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 12:0012.5N 143.8E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 13, 18:0012.6N 143.0E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 00:0012.8N 142.2E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 06:0013.1N 141.8E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 12:0013.5N 141.5E80 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 14, 18:0014.1N 141.5E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 00:0014.6N 141.5E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 06:0014.9N 141.4E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 12:0015.3N 141.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 15, 18:0015.5N 140.9E105 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 00:0015.4N 140.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 06:0015.3N 139.8E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 12:0015.2N 139.0E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 16, 18:0015.2N 138.2E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 00:0015.3N 137.5E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 06:0015.6N 136.8E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 12:0015.9N 136.2E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Dec 17, 18:0016.1N 135.7E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 00:0016.2N 135.0E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 06:0016.2N 134.2E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 12:0016.1N 133.4E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Dec 18, 18:0016.0N 132.6E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 00:0015.9N 131.8E80 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 06:0016.1N 131.2E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 12:0016.4N 130.9E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Dec 19, 18:0016.5N 130.3E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 00:0015.9N 130.2E50 kt994 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 06:0014.9N 130.3E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 12:0013.8N 130.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Dec 20, 18:0013.0N 129.4E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 00:0012.2N 129.0E1008 mbMixed
Dec 21, 06:0010.9N 128.7E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 12:0010.0N 128.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 21, 18:009.4N 127.5E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 00:008.9N 127.0E1010 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 06:008.0N 126.1E1008 mbTropical storm
Dec 22, 12:007.0N 125.1E1008 mbMixed
Dec 22, 18:006.5N 124.0E1008 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.