In a study, Michael Wehner, PhD, and the Berkeley Lab found that the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale fails to tell the full story of higher wind speeds. "The strongest storms are getting stronger.

Let's break it down. Big Picture -What It Measures: As the name implies, the current version is strictly a wind scale that rates a hurricane's sustained winds (not gusts) from Category 1 through 5.

Erin became the first hurricane of the 2025 season on Friday and is expected to pass north of the Caribbean Islands on ...

Following a hurricane at a CATEGORY 4, most of an area will be “uninhabitable” for anywhere between weeks or months. CATEGORY 5: This is the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

"The Saffir-Simpson scale is a measure of wind speed. But far more people die from hurricane flooding than from strong winds. Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wilmington as a Category 1 storm.