Hurricane - Saffir-Simpson Scale



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Updated on 05/04/2005
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Hurricanes

Hurricane season is May 31 through November 31

The Saffir-Simpson Damage-Potential Scale
This scale was developed by Herbert Saffir, a consulting engineer in Coral Gables, Florida, and Dr. Robert Simpson, then Director of the National Hurricane Center. The scale is based primarily on wind speeds and includes estimates of barometric pressure and storm surge associated with each of the five categories.
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Category	Central Pressure	Winds	Surge
1 - Minimal	greater than 980 mb or 28.94 in	74 to 95 mph or 64 to 83 kts	4 to 5 feet
2 - Moderate	965 to 979 mb or 28.50 to 28.91 in	96 to 110 mph or 65 to 96 kts	6 to 8 feet
3 - Extensive	945 to 964 mb or 27.91 to 28.47 in	111 to 130 mph or 97 to 113 kts	9 to 12 feet
4 - Extreme	920 to 944 mb or 27.17 to 27.88 in	131 to 155 mph or 114 to 135 kts	13 to 18 feet
5 - Catastrophic	less than 920 mb or 27.17 in	greater than 155 mph or 135 kts	greater than 18 feet

. Category 1 [Minimal]
	Damage primarily restricted to shrubbery, trees, and unanchored mobile homes; no substantial damage to other structures; some damage to poorly constructed signs
	Low lying roads inundated; minor damage to piers; small craft in exposed anchorages torn from moorings.
. Category 2 [Moderate]
	Considerable damage to shrubbery and tree foliage, some trees blown down; major damage to exposed mobile homes; extensive damage to poorly constructed signs and some damage to windows, doors and roofing materials of buildings, but no major destruction to buildings. .
	Coastal roads and low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 2 to 4 hours before landfall; considerable damage to piers and marinas flooded; small craft in protected anchorage torn from moorings.
	Evacuation of some shoreline residences and low lying areas required.
. Category 3 [Extensive]
	Foliage torn from trees; large trees blown down; poorly constructed signs blown down; some damage to roofing, windows, and doors; some structural damage to small buildings; mobile homes destroyed.
	Serious flooding along the coast; many small structures near the coast destroyed; larger coastal structures damaged by battering waves and floating debris.
	Low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 3 to 5 hours before landfall; flat terrain 5 feet or less above sea level flooded up to 8 or more miles inland.
	Evacuation of low lying residences within several blocks of shoreline may be required.
. Category 4 [Extreme]
	Shrubs, trees, and all signs blown down; extensive damage to roofs, windows, and doors, with complete failure of roofs on many smaller residences; mobile homes demolished
	Flat terrain 10 feet or less above sea level flooded inland as far as 6 miles; flooding and battering by waves and floating debris cause major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore; low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 3 to 5 hours before landfall; major erosion of beaches
	Massive evacuation of all residences within 500 yards of the shore may be required, as well as of single story residences in low ground with 2 miles of the shore
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. Category 5 [Catastrophic]
	Trees, shrub, and all signs blown down; considerable damage to roofs of buildings, with very severe and extensive damage to winds and doors; complete failure on many roofs of residences and industrial buildings; extensive shattering of glass in windows and doors; complete buildings destroyed; small building overturned or blown away; mobile homes demolished
	Major damage to lower floors of all structures less than 15 feet above sea level within 1500 feet of the shore
	Low lying escape routes inland cut off by rising water about 3 to 5 hours before landfall; major erosion of beaches
	Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5 to 10 miles of the shore may be required
	[Information courtesy of Hurricanes!, Peter R. Chaston.]

...Atlantic Names

2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Arlene Bret Cindy Dennis Emily Franklin Gert Harvey Irene Jose Katrina Lee Maria Nate Ophelia Philippe Rita Stan Tammy Vince Wilma	Alberto Beryl Chris Debby Ernesto Florence Gordon Helene Isaac Joyce Kirk Leslie Michael Nadine Oscar Patty Rafael Sandy Tony Valerie William	Andrea Barry Chantal Dean Erin Felix Gabrielle Humberto Ingrid Jerry Karen Lorenzo Melissa Noel Olga Pablo Rebekah Sebastien Tanya Van Wendy	Arthur Bertha Cristobal Dolly Edouard Fay Gustav Hanna Ike Josephine Kyle Lili* Marco Nana Omar Paloma Rene Sally Teddy Vicky Wilfred	Ana Bill Claudette Danny Erika Fabian Grace Henri Isabel Juan Kate Larry Mindy Nicholas Odette Peter Rose Sam Teresa Victor Wanda

*Lili was retired after 2002 season, replacement name to be determined.

Experience shows that the use of short, distinctive given names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center and now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The lists featured only women's names until 1979, when men's and women's names were alternated. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2004 list will be used again in 2010. Here is more information on the history of naming hurricanes.

The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it.

Several names have been changed since the lists were last used. Four names from the 1995 list have been retired. On the 2001 list, Lorenzo has replaced Luis, Michelle has replaced Marilyn, Olga has replaced Opal, and Rebekah has replaced Roxanne. Three names from the 1996 list have been retired. On the 2002 list, Cristobal has replaced Cesar, Fay has replaced Fran, and Hanna has replaced Hortense. Two names from the 1998 list have been retired. On the 2004 list, Gaston has replaced Georges and Matthew has replaced Mitch. On the 2006 list, Kirk has replaced Keith. Here is more information on the retirement of hurricane names.

.Courtesy of the National Hurricane Center