(in km/hr) Why even a record-breaking hurricane can't hit Category 6 [View all]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technology/hurricane-category-saffir-simpson-1.4275997

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Irma is currently listed as a Category 5 hurricane, but some articles circulating on the internet claim it could become the first to reach Category 6.

But those articles are fake.

How do we know? Because the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, which categorizes hurricanes' destructiveness based on their wind speeds, ranges from 1 to 5.

Category 3 hurricanes and above are considered major, and the worst storms are Category 5, encompassing all hurricanes with sustained winds of 252 km/h or more.

When a Category 5 storm hits, you can expect "catastrophic damage," according to a National Hurricane Center backgrounder. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months," it says, as the winds will destroy many homes, collapsing roofs, walls, trees and power lines, causing power outages that last for weeks or months.

But why is there no Category 6?

"Because once you say catastrophic and there's near complete damage, why do you need a 6?" says Dennis Feltgen, a spokesperson for the National Hurricane Center.


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