As climate change supercharges some hurricanes, climate scientists are exploring how to better communicate their force to the public — including adding an extra category to reflect their power.
The current maximum on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is Category 5, which is open-ended to any storm with wind speeds greater than 252 km/h.
A new peer-reviewed study, published Monday in Environmental Sciences, examined storm data between 1980 and 2021 and found five storms that would have been classified as Category 6 — all of them occurring in the final nine years of the study period.
“Our intent was to draw attention to the
