Are Category 6 Hurricanes Possible?

Are Category 6 Hurricanes Possible?

let's talk about what categories are according to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale a category 1 hurricane is a hurricane with sustained winds of 74 to 95 miles per hour and could cause some damage due to dangerous winds based off of this scale the categories increase as the winds and dangers intensify the categories go upper 20 miles per hour so what category 2 would be winds of 96 to 110 miles per hour and so on for a hurricane to officially hit a category it has to sustain these winds for at least 1 minute according to the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Are Category 6 Hurricanes Possible?

a major category 5 hurricane would reach 157 miles per hour or higher and I quote catastrophic damage will occur a high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed with absolute rooftop disappointment and divider breakdown fallen trees and power posts will confine local locations control blackouts will keep going for a considerable length of time to perhaps months the greater part of the territory will be unhittable for weeks or months and quote it's believed there are currently talks about adding a category 6 to the scale and if they decided to add it well technically Dorian would be a category 6 assuming that a category 6 would be a hurricane with winds sustained at 178 to 198 miles per hour Dorian as well as a few other previous category fives would be moved up.

but here's why the category scale is a bad in the of how serious a storm is it only focuses on the maximum wind speeds lasting for at least a minute not taken into consideration other factors that determine how destructive a hurricane can be a good example would be Hurricane Katrina which was the costliest storm in US history it was a category three storm when it hit land took the lives of an estimated 1200 people and cost u.s. an estimated 108 million dollars in property damage but again this was a category 3 storm so what would happen if Dorian became a category 6 hurricane well technically it already is and although it's being considered a category 5.

that's because as previously mentioned a category 5 is any hurricane with winds exceeding 157 miles per hour but as you could see currently the category scale of hurricane is only focuses on maximum wind speeds even though it should also consider things like total rainfall or rainfall over time now before I continue let me be very clear I'm not saying Dorian isn't a serious hurricane by any means as of now it's believed that's claimed the lives of approximately seven people has destroyed tons of homes and left many people stranded it's still a very serious storm and shouldn't be taken lightly based off what I just said it's a category 5 storm for a reason and should be treated accordingly as of now it's unclear whether or not a category 6 will ever be added some believe it should while others say anything category 5 is so catastrophic.

so there's no need to add another category beyond it however other scales are now being developed to help determine how destructive a storm could potentially be James Dunne a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado has been working on a project for a few years called the cyclone damage potential index which considers storm size and its forward speed both factors and how destructive the storm could be however he's made it clear it would just measure the potential of how destructive it could be and that it shouldn't replace the soffit-Simpson hurricane wind scale.