1981 WMHB Atlantic hurricane season (Cooper)

The 1981 Atlantic hurricane season was a very active Atlantic hurricane season, although most of the storms were weak and relatively short-lived. The season officially began on June 1, 1981, and ended on November 30, 1981. These dates historically describe the period each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin and are adopted by convention. However, tropical cyclogenesis is possible at any time of the year, as shown by the formation of Tropical Storm Arlene on May 6.

Storm names
The following list of names was used for named storms that formed in the North Atlantic in 1981. The names not retired from this list were used again in the 1987 season. This year marked the first usage for all of these names with the exceptions of Arlene, Cindy, and Irene, which were previously used in 1959, 1963, 1967, and 1971. There were no names retired this year; thus, the same list was used again in the 1987 season.