"Some Scientists" Calling For Cat. 6 Hurricane Category

[hatrack]

Yeah, I know, "some scientists" and UPI. Feh.

MIAMI, FL, United States (UPI) -- With some scientists saying global warming is causing an increasing frequency and strength of hurricanes, there is a call for a new category of storms.

In fact, ABC News says there have already been hurricanes strong enough to qualify as Category 6 -- having sustained winds of more than 175 or 180 mph.

The current scale defines storms with sustained winds between 74 and 95 mph as Category 1 hurricanes, Category 2 has sustained winds from 96 to 110 mph, Category 3 has sustained winds from 111 to 130 mph, Category 4 has sustained winds between 131 and 155 mph, and a Category 5 storm has sustained winds greater than 155 mph.

A Category 6 storm would have wind speeds greater than 175 or 180 mph.

EDIT

http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1165862.php/Hurricanes_Category_6_listing_possible

Related ABC News story:

May 21, 2006 — There is no official Category 6 for hurricanes, but scientists say they're pondering whether there should be as evidence mounts that hurricanes around the world have sharply worsened over the past 30 years — and all but a handful of hurricane experts now agree this worsening bears the fingerprints of man-made global warming.


In fact, say scientists, there have already been hurricanes strong enough to qualify as Category 6s. They'd define those as having sustained winds over 175 or 180 mph. A couple told me they'd measured close to 200 mph on a few occasions.

The Saffir-Simpson hurricane category scale is based on wind speed: A Category 1 hurricane has sustained winds from 74 to 95 mph, Category 2 has sustained winds from 96 to 110 mph, Category 3 has sustained winds from 111 to 130 mph, Category 4 has sustained winds from 131 to 155, and a Category 5 storm has sustained winds greater than 155 mph.

The categories run in roughly 20 mph increments, so a Cat 6 would be greater than 175 or 180 mph.


To put this all in perspective, Katrina was a Category 5 hurricane out over some hot spots in the Gulf. But when it hit New Orleans, scientists now know, Katrina had winds at a low Category 3, and much of them Category 2, including the "left side winds" that then came down from the north and pushed the surge-swollen waters of Lake Pontchartrain over and through NOLA's levees. (Hurricanes spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, so when Katrina came ashore just east of New Orleans, its winds hit the city from the north.)

EDIT

http://abcnews.go.com/US/Science/story?id=1986862&page=1

[garybeck]

1. does anyone else wonder if hurricane ratings are being "fixed?"

i just read that both Wilma and Katrina were only level 3 when they hit landfall. is that nuts? the tinfoil hat is wondering if they want to minimize the impression that the climate is changing and downgrade the storm levels to do this.

[trotsky]

2. Not really nuts.

When they get close to land, they are starting to pull in some of the cooler and drier air that's over the land mass. Since it's the ocean heat & moisture that gives them their strength, it's not surprising they lose strength quickly.

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Katrina's eyewall was shredding as it approached NO.

It showed obvious weakening, and I would be willing to believe that it was only cat. 3 when it hit land. If you can find a satellite loop of it then be sure to give it a look.

[tridim]

4. And if you see a fetus in the satellite image...

Call up a fundy church and start speaking in tongues.

[Strelnikov_]

5. The Storm Surge Was Cat 5 Level

The wind was Cat 3 or below at landfall.

I seem to remember statements along the lines that a Hurricane cannot maintain Cat. 5 for long. Seems like one of variables (along with changes in water temperature/shear) is the stage of the eyewall replacement cycle when it makes landfall.

[Boomer]

6. Yup, storm surges last longer than wind speed

Evidently once a storm surge is created by high speed winds such as from a Cat 5 hurricane, the surge maintains that intensity level as it rushes in toward land. So a lessening to Cat 3 only saves people from the wind damage; the approaching water damage is already a done deal.

[Odin2005]

7. Hurricanes often weaken just before landfall.

Also, hurricanes will weeken suddenly every few days because of some cyclic thing having to do with the eye, it slowly gets smaller then a new eye wall will form outside the old one and the eye will enlarge suddenly, causing the storm to weaken.