The 1981 season

Tropical Storm Susan (1981)

Tropical Storm Susan peaked at 60 kt in the Western Pacific between August 6, 1981 and August 15, 1981, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Susan, 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.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
August 6, 1981 to August 15, 1981
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 60 kt (69 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 470 km (292 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
4.1
Identifier
WP141981

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
Aug 6, 00:0020.3N 167.5EDisturbance
Aug 6, 06:0020.3N 167.0EDisturbance
Aug 6, 12:0020.4N 166.1E1004 mbMixed
Aug 6, 18:0020.3N 166.5E20 kt998 mbMixed
Aug 7, 00:0020.4N 166.0E25 kt996 mbMixed
Aug 7, 06:0020.6N 165.7E25 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 12:0021.0N 165.8E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0021.6N 165.8E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0022.5N 165.5E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0023.5N 165.3E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0024.9N 165.0E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 8, 18:0026.4N 164.9E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0027.9N 164.7E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0029.2N 164.4E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0030.2N 163.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0030.8N 162.8E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0031.2N 161.7E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0031.8N 161.3E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 12:0032.3N 161.2E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 10, 18:0032.8N 160.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 00:0033.0N 160.1E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 06:0033.3N 159.7E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 12:0033.9N 159.0E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Aug 11, 18:0034.5N 158.2E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 00:0034.8N 157.1E40 kt985 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 06:0035.1N 156.0E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 12:0035.6N 155.2E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Aug 12, 18:0036.2N 154.7E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 00:0036.9N 154.2E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 06:0037.5N 154.2E1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 12:0038.2N 154.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Aug 13, 18:0039.2N 153.8E1004 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 00:0041.0N 153.6E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 06:0042.8N 154.2E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 12:0044.0N 156.0E1006 mbTropical storm
Aug 14, 18:0045.5N 158.5E1006 mbExtratropical
Aug 15, 00:0047.5N 161.5E1006 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.