Strong Winds: determines the intensity of a hurricane

Strong Winds determines the intensity of a hurricane The intensity of a tropical cyclone is measured by the highest sustained wind speed found within it. Once it becomes a hurricane, the relative strength of that hurricane is also measured on a scale based on its greatest wind speed. This scale is named the Saffir-Simpson scale for the men who invented it. The scale is listed below.

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Damage-Potential Scale

Scale Number Category	Central Pressure mb inches	Wind Speeds mi/hr knots	Storm Surge feet meters	Observed Damage
1	>=980 >=28.94	74-95 64-82	4-5 ~1.5	some damage to trees, shrubbery, and unanchored mobile homes
2	965-979 28.50-28.91	96-110 83-95	6-8 ~2.0-2.5	major damage to mobile homes; damage buildings' roofs, and blow trees down
3	945-964 27.91-28.47	111-130 96-113	9-12 ~2.5-4.0	destroy mobile homes; blow down large trees; damage small buildings
4	920-944 27.17-27.88	131-155 114-135	13-18 ~4.0-5.5	completely destroy mobile homes; lower floors of structures near shore are susceptible to flooding
5	<"920" <"27.17"	>"155" >"135"	>"18" >"5.5"	extensive damage to homes and industrial buildings; blow away small buildings; lower floors of structures within 500 meters of shore and less than 4.5 m (15 ft) above sea level are damaged

The Saffir-Simpson scale categorizes hurricanes on a scale from 1 to 5. Category 1 hurricanes are the weakest, and 5's the most intense. Hurricanes strong enough to be considered intense start at category 3 or with sustained winds exceeding 96 knots (111 mph). For reference, there have only been two category 5 hurricanes that made landfall on the mainland U.S. (Florida Keys 1935 and Camille 1969). Recent intense hurricanes to make landfall on the United States were Opal in 1995 and Fran in 1996.

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Credits and Acknowledgments for WW2010.
Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.