The 1981 season

Cyclone Olga (1981)

Cyclone Olga reached Category 4 in the South Indian between April 4, 1981 and April 18, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Olga, 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
South Indian
Dates
April 4, 1981 to April 18, 1981
Peak strength
Category 4, 120 kt (138 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 258 km (160 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
15.8
Identifier
SH271981

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
Apr 4, 00:005.9S 94.0E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 06:005.3S 93.1E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 12:005.3S 92.6E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 4, 18:005.9S 92.4E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 5, 00:006.6S 92.5E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 5, 06:007.2S 92.7E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Apr 5, 12:007.7S 92.9E30 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Apr 5, 18:008.2S 93.1E30 kt1001 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 00:008.6S 93.2E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 06:009.1S 92.9E30 kt999 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 12:009.4S 92.4E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 6, 18:009.2S 92.2E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 00:008.7S 92.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 06:008.3S 92.5E40 kt995 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 12:008.2S 92.9E45 kt993 mbTropical storm
Apr 7, 18:008.6S 93.0E45 kt991 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 00:009.0S 92.7E45 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:009.4S 92.1E45 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:009.8S 91.5E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:0010.2S 91.0E55 kt976 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:0010.6S 90.6E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:0011.0S 90.3E80 kt964 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:0011.3S 90.0E90 kt958 mbTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:0011.8S 89.8E90 kt953 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:0012.7S 89.5E90 kt946 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 06:0013.8S 89.3E100 kt942 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:0015.0S 89.0E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:0016.0S 88.4E120 kt945 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:0017.1S 87.7E115 kt954 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:0018.5S 87.2E105 kt961 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:0019.9S 86.8E90 kt969 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:0021.0S 86.8E75 kt974 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:0022.1S 87.2E65 kt978 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:0023.2S 87.8E65 kt981 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:0024.3S 88.8E65 kt984 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:0025.8S 90.1E65 kt986 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:0027.4S 91.8E65 kt988 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:0028.4S 93.9E60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 12:0029.1S 96.4E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 18:0030.3S 102.0E40 kt993 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 00:0030.6S 105.4E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 06:0030.3S 107.6E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 12:0029.5S 109.8E30 kt997 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 18:0028.6S 110.7E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 00:0027.6S 111.0E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 06:0026.8S 110.7ETropical storm
Apr 15, 12:0026.4S 110.1ETropical storm
Apr 15, 18:0026.2S 109.5ETropical storm
Apr 16, 00:0026.1S 108.8ETropical storm
Apr 16, 06:0026.7S 107.8ETropical storm
Apr 16, 12:0027.3S 107.8ETropical storm
Apr 16, 18:0027.8S 107.9ETropical storm
Apr 17, 00:0028.2S 108.0ETropical storm
Apr 17, 06:0028.7S 108.4ETropical storm
Apr 17, 12:0029.1S 108.8ETropical storm
Apr 17, 18:0029.5S 109.3ETropical storm
Apr 18, 00:0030.0S 110.0ETropical storm

Other South Indian 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.