Cyclone Max (1981)

Basin

South Pacific

Dates

March 10, 1981 to March 19, 1981

Peak strength

Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)

Lowest pressure

960 mb (28.35 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

13.8

Identifier

SH241981

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.

• Tropical Storm DiolaSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm40 kt · 990 mb
• Cyclone ArthurSouth Pacific · 1981Cat 175 kt · 965 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm BetsySouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm40 kt · 990 mb
• Cyclone CliffSouth Pacific · 1981Cat 175 kt · 970 mb
• Tropical Storm EddieSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm40 kt · 980 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm50 kt · 985 mb
• Tropical Storm DamanSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm55 kt · 980 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm40 kt · 990 mb
• Cyclone FredaSouth Pacific · 1981Cat 175 kt · 955 mb
• Tropical Storm EsauSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm50 kt · 980 mb
• Cyclone TahmarSouth Pacific · 1981Cyclone65 kt · 970 mb
• Tropical Storm FranSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm50 kt · 985 mb
• Unnamed tropical stormSouth Pacific · 1981Tropical Storm35 kt · 995 mb

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.

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.