Cyclone Neil (1981)
Cyclone Neil reached Category 3 in the South Indian between February 24, 1981 and March 7, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Cyclone Neil, 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
- South Indian
- Dates
- February 24, 1981 to March 7, 1981
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 100 kt (115 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 940 mb (27.76 inHg)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 18.0
- Identifier
- SH191981
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 00:00 | 19.3S 120.2E | 25 kt | 1003 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 06:00 | 19.2S 119.2E | 25 kt | 1001 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 12:00 | 19.1S 118.2E | 30 kt | 999 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 24, 18:00 | 18.8S 115.7E | 25 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 00:00 | 18.6S 114.9E | 25 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 06:00 | 18.3S 114.1E | 30 kt | 993 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 12:00 | 18.0S 113.3E | 30 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 25, 18:00 | 17.7S 112.4E | 35 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 00:00 | 17.4S 111.6E | 35 kt | 988 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 06:00 | 17.0S 110.9E | 40 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 12:00 | 16.6S 110.3E | 40 kt | 982 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 26, 18:00 | 16.2S 109.9E | 45 kt | 979 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 00:00 | 16.2S 109.7E | 45 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 06:00 | 16.3S 109.5E | 50 kt | 974 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 12:00 | 15.8S 109.0E | 55 kt | 973 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 27, 18:00 | 15.5S 108.5E | 60 kt | 972 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 00:00 | 15.8S 107.9E | 65 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 06:00 | 16.1S 107.3E | 75 kt | 963 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 12:00 | 16.4S 106.7E | 80 kt | 956 mb | Tropical storm |
| Feb 28, 18:00 | 16.7S 106.1E | 90 kt | 948 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 00:00 | 16.9S 105.6E | 95 kt | 940 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 06:00 | 17.0S 105.1E | 100 kt | 946 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 12:00 | 17.1S 104.8E | 100 kt | 952 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 1, 18:00 | 17.2S 104.6E | 100 kt | 958 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 2, 00:00 | 17.3S 104.5E | 100 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 2, 06:00 | 17.5S 104.4E | 95 kt | 967 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 2, 12:00 | 17.7S 104.4E | 95 kt | 969 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 2, 18:00 | 17.9S 104.5E | 90 kt | 972 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 3, 00:00 | 18.1S 104.7E | 90 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 3, 06:00 | 18.2S 105.0E | 85 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 3, 12:00 | 18.4S 105.4E | 85 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 3, 18:00 | 18.6S 105.8E | 80 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 4, 00:00 | 18.9S 106.2E | 80 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 4, 06:00 | 19.4S 106.7E | 75 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 4, 12:00 | 19.9S 107.6E | 70 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 4, 18:00 | 20.5S 108.9E | 65 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 5, 00:00 | 21.2S 110.1E | 60 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 5, 06:00 | 22.0S 111.4E | 55 kt | 978 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 5, 12:00 | 22.3S 113.0E | 55 kt | 981 mb | Tropical storm |
| Mar 5, 18:00 | 23.4S 115.0E | 40 kt | 984 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 6, 00:00 | 24.3S 117.7E | 30 kt | 988 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 6, 06:00 | 25.0S 119.8E | 30 kt | 994 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 6, 12:00 | 25.7S 121.3E | 25 kt | 998 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 6, 18:00 | 26.0S 124.4E | 20 kt | 1002 mb | Not reported |
| Mar 7, 00:00 | 26.3S 126.4E | 20 kt | 1005 mb | Not reported |
Other South Indian storms of 1981
- Cyclone Adelaide:AliceSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Depression BettinaSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Depression Bert:ChristeSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm CarolSouth Indian · 1981
- Cyclone CarolSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm DanSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Depression DianaSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm EdnaSouth Indian · 1981
- Cyclone FelixSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Depression EdwigSouth Indian · 1981
- Cyclone FlorineSouth Indian · 1981
- Cyclone MabelSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm GaelleSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Depression GaelleSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm HelyetteSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm IadineSouth Indian · 1981
- Cyclone JohanneSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm KlaraSouth Indian · 1981
- Cyclone OlgaSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm LisaSouth Indian · 1981
- Tropical Storm PaddySouth Indian · 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.