A Category 5 hurricane (the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) has sustained winds higher than 155 mph (250 km/h). A hurricane (tropical cyclone) of this intensity is rare in the Atlantic Ocean, occurring about once every three years on average — though four occurred in 2005, the most ever in one season. Only three seasons (1960, 1961 and 2005) have had multiple Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, which includes the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Statistics
Between 1851 and 2005, twenty-nine hurricanes are estimated by the NHC to have had Category 5 sustained winds, none of which occurred before 1928. It is certain that some earlier storms reached Category 5, but the lack of reliable measurements makes reasonable estimations impossible. Note that re-analysis is ongoing and this list may change as more accurate estimations of older hurricanes become available.
In the Atlantic basin, 11 hurricanes have made landfall at Category 5 intensity. Only three — the Labor Day Hurricane (1935), Hurricane Camille (1969), and Hurricane Andrew (1992) — made landfall in the United States at Category 5. Andrew and Hurricane Camille were the only hurricanes to make landfall twice at Category 5.
Three other Category 5 hurricanes (Dog, Easy and Cleo) never made landfall at any intensity.
List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes
In chronological order from earliest to most recent. Names in quotes are unofficial. A blank indicates hurricane did not make landfall at Category 5 intensity.
| Name | Track | Minimum central pressure | Maximum sustained winds | Date attained | Landfall (Category 5) | Landfall (TS to Cat 4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Okeechobee" |  | 929 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 13, 1928 | Puerto Rico | Bahamas (Cat 4), Florida (Cat 4) |
| "Bahamas" |  | unknown† | 160 mph‡ | September 5, 1932 | Bahamas | |
| "Labor Day" |  | 892 mbar¹ | 160 mph‡ | September 2, 1935 | Florida Keys | Bahamas (Cat 1), southwest Florida (Cat 1) |
| "New England" |  | 938 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 19, 1938 | New York (Cat 3), Connecticut (Cat 3) | |
| "Fort Lauderdale" |  | 947 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 16, 1947 | Bahamas | Florida (Cat 4), Louisiana (Cat 1) |
| Dog |  | unknown† | 185 mph‡ | September 6, 1950 | ||
| Easy |  | unknown† | 160 mph‡ | September 7, 1951 | ||
| Janet |  | 914 mbar† | 175 mph‡ | September 28, 1955 | Mexico | Mexico (Cat 2) |
| Cleo |  | 948 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | August 16, 1958 | ||
| Donna |  | 932 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 4, 1960 | Bahamas (Cat 4), Florida (Cat 4), Florida (Cat 4), North Carolina (Cat 2), New York (Cat 2), Connecticut (Cat 2) | |
| Ethel |  | 981 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 15, 1960 | Mississippi (TS) | |
| Carla |  | 932 mbar† | 175 mph‡ | September 11, 1961 | Texas (Cat 4) | |
| Hattie |  | 920 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | October 30, 1961 (Latest) | Belize (Cat 4) | |
| Beulah |  | 923 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 20, 1967 | Mexico (Cat 4), Texas (Cat 4) | |
| Camille |  | 905 mbar | 190 mph‡ | August 17, 1969 | Louisiana, Mississippi | Cuba (Cat 4) |
| Edith |  | 943 mbar† | 160 mph‡ | September 9, 1971 | Nicaragua | Belize (TS), Louisiana (Cat 2) |
| Anita |  | 926 mbar† | 175 mph‡ | September 2, 1977 | Mexico | |
| David |  | 924 mbar | 175 mph‡ | August 30, 1979 | Hispaniola | Dominica (Cat 1), Cuba (Cat 1), Bahamas (Cat 1), Florida (Cat 2), Georgia (Cat 1) |
| Allen |  | 899 mbar | 190 mph‡ | August 7, 1980 | Texas (Cat 3) | |
| Gilbert |  | 888 mbar | 185 mph‡ | September 14, 1988 | Quintana Roo | Jamaica (Cat 3), Tamaulipas (Cat 3) |
| Hugo |  | 918 mbar | 160 mph‡ | September 15, 1989 | Puerto Rico (Cat 4), South Carolina (Cat 4) | |
| Andrew |  | 922 mbar | 175 mph‡ | August 23, 1992 | Bahamas, Florida | Bahamas (Cat 4), Louisiana (Cat 3) |
| Mitch |  | 905 mbar | 180 mph | October 26, 1998 | Honduras (Cat 2), Mexico (TS), Florida (TS) | |
| Isabel |  | 915 mbar | 165 mph | September 11, 2003 | North Carolina (Cat 2) | |
| Ivan |  | 910 mbar | 165 mph | September 9, 2004 | Grenada (Cat 3), Alabama (Cat 3), Texas (TS) | |
| Emily |  | 929 mbar | 160 mph | July 16, 2005 (Earliest) | Grenada (Cat 1), Quintana Roo twice (Cat 4), Tamaulipas (Cat 3) | |
| Katrina |  | 902 mbar | 175 mph | August 28, 2005 | Florida (Cat 1), Louisiana (Cat 3), Mississippi (Cat 3) | |
| Rita |  | 897 mbar | 175 mph | September 21, 2005 | Louisiana (Cat 3) | |
| Wilma |  | 882 mbar | 185 mph | October 19, 2005 | Quintana Roo twice (Cat 4), Florida (Cat 3) |
- Date Attained is the date when the storm first achieved Category 5 status. (Several of these storms reached Category 5 more than once)
- Landfall is the place the storm struck land at Category 5 status. (Note that the storm may have affected other land masses at a different category.)
- † Pressure readings for older storms are reliable but incomplete, especially for storms that did not threaten land. The listed pressure is likely not the lowest pressure achieved by the hurricane.
- ‡ Wind speed data for storms prior to 1997 are not reliable because surface wind speed was rarely measured before dropsondes came into use. Some speed values may have been updated after re-analysis in the late 1990s.
- ¹ A pressure reading (later determined by the weather service to be accurate) was taken by a weather observer on the ground as the eye passed over Long Key, Florida.
See also
External links
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