Tropical Storm Bret made a rare landfall on the Delmarva Peninsula in June 1981. The sixth tropical cyclone, third designated tropical depression, and second named storm of the season, Bret developed as a subtropical storm from a large area of frontal clouds near Bermuda on June 29. Moving westward, the subtropical storm intensified while producing deep convection, and was consequently reclassified as a tropical storm early on June 30. Around that time, Bret peaked with sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h). The storm then began weakening and struck near Oyster, Virginia as a minimal tropical storm early on July 1. Upon moving inland, Bret weakened to a tropical depression and subsequently accelerated prior to dissipating over northern Virginia that same day. In its early stages, Bret dropped light rainfall on Bermuda, peaking at . Impact in the United States was generally minor. In Virginia, the storm produced up to of rain in Big Meadows section of Shenandoah National Park. Along the coast, minor beach erosion occurred due to tides up to above normal. In western Pennsylvania, locally heavy rainfall flooded some streets and basements. Elsewhere, Bret dropped of precipitation to several states. One fatality was confirmed after a woman was killed by rip currents at Nags Head, North Carolina. Meteorological history A large band of frontal clouds became situated over the northwestern Atlantic Ocean on June 27. By the following day, satellite imagery indicated that a low-pressure area began developing northwest of Bermuda, along the northwest periphery of the frontal cloud band. Substantial amounts of deep convection eventually formed north and west of the low center. Thus, the system was designated as a subtropical storm at 1200 UTC on June 29, while centered approximately east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The system continued to gain convection and intensify while tracking westward toward the Mid-Atlantic states at a forward speed of . Early on June 30, a well-defined atmospheric circulation became apparent on infrared satellite imagery. As a result, subtropical storm transitioned into Tropical Storm Bret later that day at 0600 UTC. Upon becoming a tropical cyclone early on June 30, Bret attained maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h). About six hours later, at 1200 UTC, the storm also attained its minimum barometric pressure of . Around 2200 UTC on June 30, a reconnaissance aircraft flight observed hurricane-force winds, though Bret was not upgraded to a hurricane because