1981 Pacific hurricane season

Normal numbers, few strong storms

The current best track counts 15 named storms and 8 hurricanes, about average, and one major hurricane against an average of three. Those figures match the site's archive. Two further depressions never reached storm strength. No storm formed in the central Pacific, though Greg and Jova crossed into it from the east, Jova as a hurricane.

The first depression formed south of Mexico on 30 May and became Tropical Storm Adrian, which came ashore about 240 miles east-southeast of Acapulco as a depression on 4 June without reported damage. Hurricanes Beatriz, Dora, Fernanda, Greg and Hilary followed from late June to late August, all peaking between 65 and 90 kt over open water. Beatriz sent waves of up to 4 feet to southern California, and Greg dissipated more than 600 miles east-northeast of Hawaii on 22 August. Jova passed about 100 miles north of Hawaii in September, and its only effect on the islands was a break in the trade winds and higher humidity.

Six storms made landfall in Mexico. Tropical Storm Irwin crossed land south of La Paz as a depression on 30 August, and Tropical Storm Knut dissipated as it came ashore on 21 September. Neither caused reported damage.

Two October storms in Sinaloa

Tropical Storm Lidia formed ahead of a front on 6 October and peaked at 45 kt in the archive. It crossed the southern tip of Baja California about 65 miles northwest of Cabo San Lucas on 7 October, then turned northeast across the Gulf of California and came ashore just south of Los Mochis on 8 October with winds of 45 mph.

Lidia's rain did the damage. The Rio Fuerte burst its banks and flooded sixty settlements, seven towns were cut off, and floodwater contaminated Culiacán's water supply. A surge down a dry river bed killed 40 people, most of them children. The death toll exceeded 73, mostly in rural areas, with losses to cattle, crops and fishing boats of more than $80 million in 1981 dollars.

Hurricane Norma formed on 8 October, became a hurricane the next day and deepened fast to its 110 kt peak at 18 UTC on 10 October, the season's highest wind. It weakened as it sped toward the coast and made landfall just northeast of Mazatlán at 1000 UTC on 12 October with winds of 105 mph, below that peak. About 5,000 people evacuated. Norma caused one death in Mexico, a fisherman whose boat capsized, and at least $24 million in crop damage in 1981 dollars.

Norma's moisture merged with a front over Texas on 13 and 14 October. Heavy rain drove two rivers to flood stage, 13 tornadoes touched down in northern Texas and southern Oklahoma, and floods washed away 60 bridges in Oklahoma. Five people died in the United States, three of them in Fort Worth, and Texas damage of $50 million in 1981 dollars. Sinaloa's governor declared the state a disaster area after Lidia and Norma.

Hurricane Otis closes the year

Otis formed south of Mexico on 24 October, became a hurricane on 26 October and peaked at 75 kt in the archive. It skirted the Jalisco coast as a weakening hurricane on 29 October, and it came ashore near Mazatlán on 30 October, making it the second hurricane to strike Mexico that year, before a front absorbed it.

Fernanda, Hilary and Norma had appeared on the older four-year name lists; the other names were new in 1981. No names were retired, and the list returned in 1987 with X, Y and Z names added.