Satellite imagery shows Category 3 Hurricane Ian passing over Cuba on September 27, 2022.
Wind speed determines hurricane categories — not the rain, storm surge, or flooding they can cause.
Category 1 storms can still leave power outages, downed buildings, and long-term damage in their wake.
These photos show the differences between hurricane categories, using memorable storms as examples.
Hurricanes Irma and Harvey were two very different storms.Anse Marcel Beach in Saint Martin before Hurricane Irma on August 25, 2016, and the storm on September 11, 2017.
Satellite image ©2019 Maxar Technologies
While Harvey’s record rainfall drenched southeastern Texas and western Louisiana in 2017, flooding Houston in over 4 feet of water, Irma’s winds flattened buildings, trees, and power lines on the Caribbean islands it devoured.
At its peak, Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, but its weakened winds downgraded it to a tropical storm the day after it made landfall.
Irma was a Category 5 monster that was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded. Both had widespread devastation even though they were on the opposite ends of the category scale.
Hurricane Ian is a Category 3 storm forecasted to strengthen to a Category 4 before it batters Florida this week.
Hal Needham, a hurricane scientist at Louisiana State University, explained on the weather site WXshift in 2017 that a storm’s category doesn’t fully convey how much damage it could cause.
“Hurricanes and tropical storms throw three hazards at us: wind, rainfall, and storm surge,” he wrote. “Think of the impacts separately. Storms with weaker winds are more likely to stall and dump heavier rainfall. This shocks people, as it would seem intuitive that a Category 5 hurricane would tend to dump more rain than a Category 1 hurricane. But the opposite is true.”
Here’s a closer look at the type of damage that storms at different categories can cause.
The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which does not include lower-level tropical storms or tropical depressions, is based solely on maximum sustained wind.
Ana Pelisson/Business Insider
Source: NHC
Once a tropical storm’s winds exceed 39 mph, the storm gets a name. Most storms that make landfall in the US are tropical storms, not “major” hurricanes of Category 3 and above.Hurricanes that have hit the continental US from 1950 to 2011, color-coded by category.
NOAA
But “storms are too complex to define by one number,” Needham wrote. While Harvey’s strong winds on the Texas Gulf Coast caused widespread destruction, most of the devastation came after it was downgraded to a tropical storm, dumping feet of water on Texas and Louisiana.Interstate 45 seen during widespread flooding in Houston on August 27.
REUTERS/Richard Carson
Source: WXShift
While strong winds can rip shingles off roofs and tear down power lines, flooding often causes more widespread, costlier damage — and can be more dangerous for humans, no matter what the hurricane category is.Homes surrounded by floodwater from Tropical Storm Harvey on August 29 in Houston.
AP/David J. Phillip
Harvey, for example, was particularly devastating because it stalled over the Houston area, staying in roughly the same place for five days.People float on floodwaters caused by Hurricane Harvey.
David J. Phillip/AP
Category 1 hurricanes have wind speeds of 74 to 95 mph. They can damage a home’s exterior, break large tree branches, and knock down power lines, causing multiday power failures. Hurricane Dolly was this rating when it hit Texas in 2008.Hurricane Dolly caused flooding of 3 feet or more in many areas of southern Texas.
Joe Mitchell/Reuters
Source: Insider
Category 2 hurricanes have wind speeds of 96 to 110 mph. Storms of this intensity can cause major damage to homes and uproot large trees. They also generate power failures that last up to weeks. Hurricane Ike was a Category 2 when it hit Texas in 2008.Hurricane Ike’s winds caused severe damage when the storm hit Texas in 2008.
David J. Phillip/REUTERS
While a hurricane’s category classifies how strong it is, this definition can’t fully predict how devastating it might be. Superstorm Sandy hit Category 3, but by the time it made landfall in New York and New Jersey in 2012 it had weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.Hurricane Sandy caused the deaths of hundreds of people and cost $68 billion in damage.
AP
Category 3 storms have wind speeds of 111 to 130 mph. But with Sandy, the storm surge, or rise in sea level, did some of the worst damage. It reached nearly 8 feet in parts of the Jersey Shore and 6 1/2 feet around New York City. Its “superstorm” status was because it was so wide — up to 1,000 miles across.Burned houses next to those that survived fires during Hurricane Sandy in Breezy Point, Queens.
Adrees Latif/Reuters
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the most devastating storm ever to hit the US. It killed 1,833 people and caused $108 billion in damage, though it was technically a Category 3 when it made landfall in Louisiana with sustained wind speeds of 125 mph.Flooded neighborhoods seen as the Coast Guard conducted initial Hurricane Katrina damage-assessment overflights in 2005 in New Orleans.
Getty Images
Category 4 hurricanes have wind speeds of 131 to 155 mph, uprooting most trees and creating power failures that can last weeks or even months. Hurricane Charley was a Category 4 when it made landfall in Florida in 2004.Mobile homes seen torn apart north of Port Charlotte, Florida, on in 2004 after Hurricane Charley moved through the area.
J.Pat Carter/AP
Hurricane Maria was a Category 4 storm when it made landfall in Puerto Rico in 2017, leaving 100% of the island without power. Parts of the US commonwealth were still recovering from the hurricane two years later — 30,000 homes had tarps for roofs.A woman tries to walks out from her house after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Salinas, Puerto Rico, September 21, 2017.
REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Sources: AP, Insider
Hurricane Andrew was one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall in the US. It was a Category 5 hurricane when it hit Florida’s Dade County in August 1992.The Florida City water tower remained standing over the ruins of the coastal community that was hit by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
AP
Category 5 storms have wind speeds greater than 156 mph, which can destroy most framed homes, cause power failures, and leave areas where it hits uninhabitable for weeks or even months. Irma was a Category 5 storm when it “totally demolished” the island of Barbuda in 2017.
ABS News
Source: Business Insider
Local weather stations in Barbuda captured wind gusts of 155 mph before going silent, indicating that the instruments had been blown away. The destruction was so severe that the island was initially cut off from communication, and 90% of its buildings were destroyed.Satellite photos show Barbuda before and after Hurricane Irma devastated the island in 2017.
NASA Earth Observatory
Source: Business Insider
Hurricane Irma was so powerful that it could have been considered a Category 6 storm. Theoretically, if we extended the Saffir-Simpson scale, Irma would be a Category 6, with wind speeds of 175 to 195 mph. It ended up making landfall in Florida as a Category 4, knocking out power for 6 million people.Water rises up to a sidewalk by the Miami river as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida, in downtown Miami, Florida.
Reuters/Carlos Barria
Source: Business Insider
The problem with extending the Saffir-Simpson scale is that it’s also a measurement based on destruction, and Category 5 storms typically destroy buildings and utilities. Technically, categories above 5 wouldn’t cause more damage because there’s no more damage to be done.Rescue staff from the Municipal Emergency Management Agency investigate an empty flooded car during the passage of Hurricane Irma through the northeastern part of Puerto Rico.
AP Photo/Carlos Giusti
Whether a storm is a theoretical “Category 6” or a tropical storm, its impact for people in its wake can be devastating.A woman reacts while she looks at the damages in the house of her mother after the area was hit by Hurricane Maria in Guayama, Puerto Rico September 20, 2017.
REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Part of the issue is that climate change is causing ocean and air temperatures to rise, which is making hurricanes more sluggish, giving them more time to suck up water and gain strength.The intensity of Hurricane Dorian as it sat over the Bahamas before it moved toward Florida.
Tropical Tidbits
Sources: Insider, Nature
On Tuesday, Hurricane Ian was battering Cuba and heading toward Florida as a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, forecasted storm surge up to 12 feet, and up to 24 inches of rain predicted in some areas.Satellite imagery shows Category 3 Hurricane Ian passing over Cuba on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
NOAA GOES-East
Sources: NHC, Insider
The NHC expects Ian to strengthen again before it makes landfall in Florida on Wednesday because it’s sucking up warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. While its wind speed could be devastating, the NHC warned Ian’s rainfall and “life-threatening” storm surge could cause “considerable” flooding.A resident uses plastic for protection from the rain in Batabano, Cuba. Hurricane Ian is forecasted to hit the Gulf Coast of Florida on Wednesday.
Ramon Espinosa/AP
Sources: NHC, Insider
