Hurricane Otis (1981)
Hurricane Otis reached Category 1 in the Eastern Pacific between October 24, 1981 and October 30, 1981, and made landfall.
Track and intensity
The whole track of Hurricane Otis, 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
- Eastern Pacific
- Dates
- October 24, 1981 to October 30, 1981
- Peak strength
- Category 1, 75 kt (86 mph)
- Landfall
- Yes
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 8.1
- Fastest the center moved
- 15 kt (17 mph)
- Identifier
- EP151981
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 00:00 | 10.7N 98.8W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 24, 06:00 | 11.0N 100.3W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 24, 12:00 | 11.2N 101.4W | 30 kt | Tropical depression | |
| Oct 24, 18:00 | 11.4N 102.0W | 35 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 25, 00:00 | 11.9N 102.4W | 40 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 25, 06:00 | 12.4N 102.6W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 25, 12:00 | 12.8N 102.7W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 25, 18:00 | 13.4N 102.5W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 26, 00:00 | 13.7N 102.2W | 55 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 26, 06:00 | 14.0N 101.9W | 60 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 26, 12:00 | 14.0N 101.9W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 26, 18:00 | 14.0N 101.9W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 27, 00:00 | 14.0N 101.9W | 75 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 27, 06:00 | 14.2N 102.2W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 27, 12:00 | 14.5N 102.8W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 27, 18:00 | 14.8N 103.5W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 28, 00:00 | 15.1N 104.1W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 28, 06:00 | 15.8N 104.8W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 28, 12:00 | 16.7N 105.4W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 28, 18:00 | 17.8N 105.6W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 29, 00:00 | 18.8N 105.8W | 70 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 29, 06:00 | 19.8N 105.9W | 65 kt | Hurricane | |
| Oct 29, 12:00 | 20.7N 105.9W | 50 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 29, 18:00 | 21.6N 105.9W | 45 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Oct 30, 00:00 | 22.5N 105.8W | 55 kt | Tropical storm |
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 NormaEastern 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.