Hurricane Norma (1981)
Hurricane Norma reached Category 3 in the Eastern Pacific between October 8, 1981 and October 12, 1981, and made landfall.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Hurricane Norma. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.
Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- October 8, 1981 to October 12, 1981
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 11.0
- Fastest the center moved
- 13 kt (15 mph)
- Identifier
- EP141981
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.
Rainfall
The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,260 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 21.01 inches (534 mm).
| Station | Total | Position |
|---|---|---|
| BRECKENRIDGE | 21.01 in (534 mm) | 32.75N 98.90W |
| KINGSTON 4 SSE | 18.71 in (475 mm) | 33.93N 96.68W |
| MADILL | 18.34 in (466 mm) | 34.10N 96.77W |
| TISHOMINGO NATL WL REF | 18.02 in (458 mm) | 34.20N 96.65W |
| MARIETTA 5SW | 14.24 in (362 mm) | 33.88N 97.17W |
| COALGATE 1 WNW | 14.00 in (356 mm) | 34.55N 96.23W |
| NEWPORT 1SW | 13.80 in (351 mm) | 33.45N 98.03W |
| BRIDGEPORT | 13.13 in (334 mm) | 33.20N 97.77W |
| MUENSTER | 12.63 in (321 mm) | 33.65N 97.38W |
| BOYD | 12.13 in (308 mm) | 33.08N 97.57W |
| ARCHER CITY | 11.87 in (301 mm) | 33.58N 98.63W |
| SLIDELL | 11.70 in (297 mm) | 33.37N 97.40W |
WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 18:00 | 14.5N 104.5W | 25 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 9, 00:00 | 14.8N 105.2W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 9, 06:00 | 15.2N 105.8W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 9, 12:00 | 15.7N 106.1W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 9, 18:00 | 16.3N 106.6W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 10, 00:00 | 16.6N 107.0W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 10, 06:00 | 17.0N 107.4W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 10, 12:00 | 17.4N 107.8W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 10, 18:00 | 17.8N 108.2W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 11, 00:00 | 18.3N 108.6W | 110 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 11, 06:00 | 19.0N 108.7W | 100 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 11, 12:00 | 19.8N 108.6W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 11, 18:00 | 20.7N 108.1W | 95 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 12, 00:00 | 21.6N 107.7W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 12, 06:00 | 22.5N 107.0W | 90 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 12, 12:00 | 23.7N 106.5W | 90 kt | Hurricane |
Other Eastern Pacific storms of 1981
- Tropical Storm AdrianEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane BeatrizEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm CalvinEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane DoraEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm EugeneEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane FernandaEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane GregEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane HilaryEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm IrwinEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane JovaEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm KnutEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm LidiaEastern Pacific · 1981
- Tropical Storm MaxEastern Pacific · 1981
- Hurricane OtisEastern Pacific · 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.