CALAMITOUS CATEGORY SIX HURRICANES

The National Hurricane Center has long used the Saffir-Simpson Windscale to convey risk of property damage labeling hurricanes on a scale from Category 1 (wind speeds between 74–95 mph) to 5 (speeds of 158 mph or more). With increasing ocean temperatures contributing to ever more intense and destructive storms, a Category 6 could be justified. From 1980 to 2021 there were five storms that would have been classified as such. All occurred in the last nine years of record. With two degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels, the risk of Cat 6 storms increases by up to 50% near the Philippines and doubles in the Gulf of Mexico, The highest risk is there and in Southeast Asia and the Philippines.

newscenter.lbl.gov/2024/02/05/warming-world-climate-scientists-consider-category-6-hurricanes/