The 1981 season

Tropical Storm Phyllis (1981)

Tropical Storm Phyllis peaked at 55 kt in the Western Pacific between July 31, 1981 and August 8, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 975 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Phyllis, 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
Western Pacific
Dates
July 31, 1981 to August 8, 1981
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 55 kt (63 mph)
Lowest pressure
975 mb (28.79 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
1.9
Identifier
WP111981

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
Jul 31, 06:0016.9N 141.8ETropical storm
Jul 31, 12:0018.0N 141.5E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 31, 18:0018.2N 142.2E20 ktMixed
Aug 1, 00:0018.3N 142.7E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0018.4N 143.1E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0018.6N 143.4E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0018.8N 143.8E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0019.0N 144.1E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0020.0N 144.6E996 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0021.7N 145.3E992 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0023.7N 146.0E990 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0025.8N 146.5E30 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0027.7N 146.7E35 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0028.9N 146.6E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 18:0029.9N 146.2E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0031.0N 146.1E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0032.1N 146.1E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0033.4N 146.0E40 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0035.0N 145.3E35 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0036.7N 145.1E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0038.5N 145.2E55 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0040.3N 145.4E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 5, 18:0042.9N 144.3E980 mbMixed
Aug 6, 00:0046.9N 141.3E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 06:0047.8N 137.8E984 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 12:0048.8N 135.0E986 mbExtratropical
Aug 6, 18:0049.0N 134.0E988 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 00:0049.0N 133.7E990 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 06:0049.0N 133.0E992 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 12:0049.0N 132.0E994 mbExtratropical
Aug 7, 18:0048.0N 130.0E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 00:0049.0N 130.0E996 mbExtratropical
Aug 8, 06:0050.0N 130.0E996 mbExtratropical

Other Western Pacific 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.