The 1981 Atlantic hurricane season featured direct or indirect impacts from nearly all of its 12 tropical or subtropical storms. Overall, the season was fairly active, with 22 tropical depressions, 12 of which became a namable storm, while 7 of those reached hurricane status and 3 intensified into major hurricanes. The season officially began on June 1, 1981, and lasted until November 30, 1981. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. However, tropical cyclogenesis can occur before these dates, as demonstrated with the development of two tropical depressions in April and Tropical Storm Arlene in May. At least one tropical cyclone formed in each month between April and November, with the final system, Subtropical Storm Three, becoming extratropical on November 17, 1981.

Tropical Depression Eight caused severe flooding in southeastern Texas in late August 1981. The twelfth tropical cyclone of the annual hurricane season, the depression developed from a tropical disturbance over the Bay of Campeche on August 26. Moving northwestward, the cyclone failed to intensify into a tropical storm before making landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas to the north of Tampico on August 28, with winds of 35 mph (55 km/h). After moving inland, the depression curved north-northwestward before degenerating into a surface low pressure area near the Mexico–United States border on August 29. The remnants moved eastward across Texas and entered Louisiana before dissipating on September 1.