re: A good read on the 33 Category 5 hurricanes on record in the Atlantic since 1924

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IIRC, Andrew was only a 3 or 4 just before coming ashore, and it intensified as it approached and was afterwards declared a Cat 5.

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Yep, I've read that couldn't get an accurate wind for Andrew because of destroyed weather gauges so the category/maximum sustained wind had to be estimated by the damage.

Eta: One of my old professors at LSU, Dr. Liu literally wrote the book on the science of "paleotempestology". Finding and discovering where ancient hurricanes landed and how strong they were. Can be measured from ocean sediments in inland freshwater lakes from storm surge. They can accurately date the sediment and when the hurricane happened based on pollen trapped in the sediment.

Also for our Atlantic record pre-1860s we have the Spanish to thank.

The Chinese have accurate records describing hurricanes dating back to I think the year ~300.