1981 Pacific typhoon season

A third below-normal year

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center counted 29 significant tropical cyclones in 1981, one more than in each of the two previous years and three fewer than the long-term annual average, and called it the third consecutive year of below-normal activity. Only one stayed a depression. Of the 28 that reached tropical storm strength, 16 became typhoons, and two, Elsie and Irma, reached the 130 kt super typhoon threshold. Warning days rose to 144.

The site's archive agrees with the JTWC on 28 tropical storms and 16 typhoons, since both rest on one-minute winds; it counts 6 major typhoons and an accumulated cyclone energy of 226. Other season lists describe the year as slightly above average with 29 tropical storms but only 13 typhoons, figures that follow different wind definitions, including the Japan Meteorological Agency's ten-minute averages, which run lower than one-minute peaks.

A March typhoon and a slow spring

Typhoon Freda formed near the Gilbert Islands and became a typhoon on 14 March, the archive's first of the year. It was only the fourth March typhoon in the basin since 1959. Freda passed about 120 km west of Wake Island near its 100 kt peak, bringing typhoon-force gusts and 6 m waves, then merged with an extratropical low on 17 March.

April brought Tropical Storm Gerald, which dropped heavy rain on Guam, and Tropical Storm Holly, which formed near the equator and died at sea. Nothing formed in May. Typhoon Ike became the first South China Sea storm in June and reached minimal typhoon strength just before landfall on southwestern Taiwan; the JTWC cited eight deaths, four in Taiwan and four in the Philippines. Typhoon June recurved about 75 km southeast of Taipei.

Kelly and Lynn flood the Philippines

Two storms crossed the Philippines within three days in early July. Kelly came ashore near tropical storm strength on 30 June, crossed Mindoro as a depression, and still left nearly 200 dead and thousands homeless from floods and mudslides, according to the JTWC. It regained typhoon strength over the South China Sea, struck southern Hainan and reached northern Vietnam as a tropical storm on 4 July.

Tropical Storm Lynn followed with winds of 45 to 50 kt and a 30-hour crossing of northern Luzon. The JTWC reported 18 dead and tens of thousands homeless in the Philippines. Lynn then struck southern China on 7 July, where mudslides killed 22 people, and Hong Kong kept its No. 8 signal hoisted for nearly 29 hours.

Tropical Storm Maury turned unexpectedly toward Taiwan and came ashore at its northern tip on 19 July. The JTWC cited 27 deaths and Taipei's worst flooding of the year; later totals give 38 deaths. Typhoon Ogden struck southern Kyushu at the end of July.

An active August monsoon trough

August produced seven cyclones in the JTWC count, most from a long monsoon trough. Three formed within 48 hours from 16 August, starting with Typhoon Thad, which kept a ragged eye for 80 hours. A trough over the Sea of Japan stalled and deepened unexpectedly, and Thad accelerated from 10 kt to 45 kt as it raced north over eastern Japan instead of recurving offshore. Later totals give 20 deaths in Japan.

Typhoon Agnes passed about 165 km southwest of Okinawa at the end of August before shear stripped its core. Its moisture reached Korea ahead of the center, and the JTWC reported rainfall of up to 71 cm, among the heaviest of the century there; it credited early warnings with averting much of the potential damage. Later totals give 139 deaths from Agnes.

Clara in Luzon, Elsie at sea

Typhoon Clara developed near Ponape and tracked west-northwest instead of the westward path the JTWC first forecast. It peaked at 120 kt on 19 September before crossing the northern tip of Luzon, where the JTWC reported widespread damage in eight provinces, floods that left thousands homeless, and a Philippine Navy destroyer and cargo ship sunk north of Manila with 68 people missing. Clara reached southeast China on 21 September with winds of about 70 kt, and later totals give 141 deaths.

Typhoon Elsie grew from a small patch of convection near 8N 150E after Clara and Doyle drained the monsoon trough. It became a super typhoon on 27 September and reached 150 kt early on 28 September, about 615 nautical miles west-northwest of Guam, with the archive's lowest pressure of the year at 895 hPa. Elsie followed a parabolic path around the subtropical ridge, passed offshore Japan on 1 and 2 October and became extratropical without an archived landfall.

Irma, Kit and Lee end the year

Typhoon Gay passed about 50 km from Tokyo in late October. Typhoon Hazen crossed northern Saipan as a tropical storm on 15 November, with gusts to 62 kt, downed trees and minor structural damage, before reaching typhoon strength and later striking Vietnam.

Typhoon Irma deepened to 905 hPa, as an aircraft measured and the JTWC had predicted a day earlier, and reached 135 kt on 22 November. It weakened before landfall at 0900 UTC on 24 November, about 60 nautical miles northeast of Manila, with winds of 85 kt. The JTWC cited reports of more than 200 deaths and damage estimates as high as $9 million, including the near-total destruction of four coastal towns in Camarines Sur by storm surge. Later totals give 409 deaths.

December brought two typhoons. Typhoon Kit ran for 40 warnings and peaked at 115 kt in the archive, unusual strength for the month, before dissipating near Mindanao. Typhoon Lee formed as Kit faded, reached 95 kt and crossed the central Philippines on 25 December. Later totals give 188 deaths. Lee's last tropical-stage observation on 29 December closes the archive's year.