re: New Category 6 Hurricane Classification Proposed Due to Climate Change

Question:

From a damage standpoint... is there a difference between 157 mph winds and say... 200 mph winds or even 250 mph winds? Seems like it'd be no different than running your car into a brick wall at either 150 or 200 mph... damage is essentially the same.

Why There's No Such Thing As A Category 6 Hurricane

quote:

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Hurricane strength is rated using the Saffir–Simpson scale, first developed in 1971 by Herbert Saffir and Robert Simpson, a civil engineer and meteorologist respectively. While flooding can account for much of the lasting damage a hurricane can cause, the Saffir-Simpson scale is concerned solely with windspeed, using the max speed of sustained winds to organize hurricanes into the five established categories:

Category 1: Very dangerous winds will produce some damage.
74-95 mph winds.

Category 2: Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage. 96-110 mph winds.

Category 3: Devastating damage will occur. 111-129 mph winds.

Category 4: Catastrophic damage will occur. 130-156 mph winds.

Category 5: Catastrophic damage will occur on a large scale. 157 mph or higher winds.

The potential for a Category 6 storms seems obvious. ... It's a moot point however, because the Saffir-Simpson scale is not designed to arbitrarily classify storms into tiers based on wind speed or some sort of abstract power level. The Saffir-Simpson scale is designed to reflect the damage a given storm will cause to buildings and other man-made structures in its path. Category 5 is widespread, catastrophic damage. There's not really anything worse than that.

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