List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

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List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

A Category 5 Atlantic hurricane is a tropical cyclone that reaches Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, within the Atlantic Ocean to the north of the equator. They are among the strongest tropical cyclones that can form on Earth, having 1-minute sustained wind speeds of at least 137 knots (254 km/h; 158 mph; 70 m/s). The United States National Hurricane Center currently estimates that 11 tropical cyclones between 1851 (the first Atlantic hurricane season to be included in the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record) and 1959 peaked as Category 5 hurricanes. However, because technologies such as satellite monitoring were not available until the 1960s, some cyclones may have remained undetected. Since 1960, 31 Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5.

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Hurricane Milton as a Category 5 hurricane on October 7, 2024

Background

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Tracks of all known Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes between 1851 and 2024.

Within the Atlantic Ocean to the north of the equator, hurricanes are officially monitored by the United States's National Hurricane Center (NHC), however, other meteorological services, such as Météo-France, the United Kingdom's Met Office and Environment Canada also monitor the basin. Within the region, a Category 5 hurricane is a tropical cyclone which reaches Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, that is, a tropical cyclone that has 1-minute mean maximum sustained wind speeds of 137 knots (254 km/h; 158 mph; 70 m/s) or greater at 10 metres (32.8 ft) above ground.[1]

A total of 42 tropical cyclones have been estimated to have peaked as Category 5 hurricanes on the SSHWS, with the first occurrence recorded in 1924. No Category 5 hurricanes were observed officially before 1924. It can be presumed that earlier storms reached Category 5 strength over open waters, but the strongest winds were not measured. Although the anemometer, a device used for measuring wind speed, was invented in 1846, during major hurricane strikes the instruments were often blown away or damaged, leaving the hurricane's peak intensity unrecorded. For example, as the Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879 struck North Carolina, the anemometer cups were blown away when indicating 138 mph (222 km/h).[2]

As of May 2018, a reanalysis of weather data was ongoing by researchers who may upgrade or downgrade Atlantic hurricanes.[3] For example, the 1825 Santa Ana hurricane is suspected to have reached Category 5 strength.[4] Furthermore, paleotempestological research aims to identify past major hurricanes by comparing sedimentary evidence of recent and past hurricane strikes. For example, a "giant hurricane" significantly more powerful than Hurricane Hattie (Category 5) has been identified in Belizean sediment, having struck the region sometime before 1500.[5]

Records

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An October Category 5 hurricane that hit Cuba, Florida, and The Bahamas in 1924. It was the first hurricane to be officially recognized as a Category 5 on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

Officially, the decade with the most Category 5 hurricanes is 2000–2009, with eight Category 5 hurricanes having occurred: Isabel (2003), Ivan (2004), Emily (2005), Katrina (2005), Rita (2005), Wilma (2005), Dean (2007), and Felix (2007). The previous decades with the most Category 5 hurricanes were the 1930s and 1960s, with six occurring between 1930 and 1939.[6] The most Category 5 hurricanes recorded in a single season is four, in 2005. The most consecutive years to feature at least one Category 5 hurricane each is four, from 2016 to 2019.[7]

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A collage of all Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes since 1980

Ten Atlantic hurricanes—Camille, Allen, Andrew, Isabel, Ivan, Dean, Felix, Irma, Maria, and Milton—reached Category 5 intensity on more than one occasion; that is, by reaching Category 5 intensity, weakening to a Category 4 status or lower, and then becoming a Category 5 hurricane again. Such hurricanes have their dates shown together. Camille, Andrew, Dean, Felix, Irma, Maria, and Milton each attained Category 5 status twice during their lifespans. Allen, Isabel, and Ivan reached Category 5 intensity on three occasions. The 1932 Cuba hurricane holds the record for the most time spent as a Category 5 hurricane (although it took place before satellite or aircraft reconnaissance, so this record may be somewhat suspect). Irma holds the record for the longest continuous span as a Category 5 storm in the satellite era.[6][8]

Of the 42 Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes on record, 2 have been recorded in July, 8 in August, 25 in September, 7 in October, and 1 in November. There have been no officially recorded June or off-season Category 5 hurricanes.[6]

The July and August Category 5 hurricanes reached their high intensities in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. These are the areas most favorable for tropical cyclone development in those months.[6][9]

September sees the most Category 5 hurricanes, with over half of the total. This coincides with the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which occurs in early September.[10] September Category 5s reached their strengths in any of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and open Atlantic. These places are where September tropical cyclones are likely to form.[9] Many of these hurricanes are either Cape Verde hurricanes, which develop their strength due to a long track over warm waters,[11] or else intensify over the warm Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico.

All but two of the Category 5 hurricanes in October and November (the exceptions being Michael and Milton) reached their intensities in the western Caribbean, a region that Atlantic hurricanes strongly gravitate toward late in the season.[9] This is due to the climatology of the area, which sometimes has a high-altitude anticyclone that promotes rapid intensification late in the season, as well as warm waters.

Systems

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More information Name, Category 5 intensity ...
Name Category 5 intensity Peak intensity Areas affected Damage
(USD)
Deaths Refs.
Dates Duration Wind speed Pressure
"Cuba"October 19, 192412 hours165 mph (270 km/h)910 hPa (26.87 inHg)Central America, Mexico, Cuba
Florida, The Bahamas
90[12][13]
"San Felipe II
Okeechobee"
September 13–14, 192812 hours160 mph (260 km/h)929 hPa (27.43 inHg)Lesser Antilles, The Bahamas
United States East Coast, Atlantic Canada
$100 million4,000[14]
"Abaco"September 5–6, 19321 day160 mph (260 km/h)921 hPa (27.20 inHg)The Bahamas, Northeastern United States18[15]
"Camagüey"November 5–8, 19323 days 6 hours175 mph (280 km/h)915 hPa (27.02 inHg)Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Cayman Islands
Cuba, The Bahamas, Bermuda
$40 million3,103[16]
"Cuba–Brownsville"August 30, 193312 hours160 mph (260 km/h)930 hPa (27.46 inHg)The Bahamas, Cuba, Florida
Texas, Tamaulipas
$27.9 million179[17]
"Tampico"September 21, 193312 hours160 mph (260 km/h)929 hPa (27.43 inHg)Jamaica, Yucatán Peninsula$5 million184[18]
"Labor Day"September 3, 193518 hours185 mph (295 km/h)892 hPa (26.34 inHg)The Bahamas, Florida, Georgia
The Carolinas, Virginia
408[19]
"New England"September 19–20, 193818 hours160 mph (260 km/h)940 hPa (27.76 inHg)Eastern United States, Southwestern Quebec$306 million682[20]
"Great Atlantic"September 13, 194418 hours160 mph (260 km/h)918 hPa (27.11 inHg)Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada$100 million300[21]
CarolSeptember 3, 195312 hours160 mph (260 km/h)929 hPa (27.43 inHg)Bermuda, New England, Atlantic Canada$2 million5[22]
JanetSeptember 27–28, 195518 hours175 mph (280 km/h)914 hPa (26.99 inHg)Lesser Antilles, Central America$65.8 million1,023[23]
EstherSeptember 17, 196118 hours160 mph (260 km/h)919 hPa (27.14 inHg)East Coast of the United States$6 million7[24]
HattieOctober 31, 19616 hours165 mph (270 km/h)914 hPa (26.99 inHg)Central America$60.3 million319[25][26]
InezSeptember 28–29, 19661 day165 mph (270 km/h)927 hPa (27.37 inHg)Greater Antilles, Florida, Mexico$229 million756[27]
BeulahSeptember 20, 19676 hours160 mph (260 km/h)921 hPa (27.20 inHg)The Caribbean, Mexico, Texas$208 million59[28]
CamilleAugust 16–18, 1969[a]1 day 6 hours175 mph (280 km/h)900 hPa (26.58 inHg)Cuba, United States Gulf Coast$1.42 billion259[29]
EdithSeptember 9, 19716 hours160 mph (260 km/h)943 hPa (27.85 inHg)The Caribbean, Central America
Mexico, United States Gulf Coast
$25.4 million37[30]
AnitaSeptember 2, 197712 hours175 mph (280 km/h)926 hPa (27.34 inHg)MexicoUnknown11[31]
DavidAugust 30–31, 19791 day 18 hours175 mph (280 km/h)924 hPa (27.29 inHg)The Caribbean, United States East coast$1.54 billion2,068[32][33]
AllenAugust 5–9, 1980[a]3 days190 mph (305 km/h)899 hPa (26.55 inHg)The Caribbean, Yucatán Peninsula
Mexico, South Texas
$1.57 billion269[32][34][35]
GilbertSeptember 13–14, 19881 day185 mph (295 km/h)888 hPa (26.22 inHg)Jamaica, Venezuela, Central America
Hispaniola, Mexico
$2.98 billion318[36][37]
HugoSeptember 15, 19896 hours160 mph (260 km/h)918 hPa (27.11 inHg)The Caribbean, United States East Coast$10 billion107[29][38][39]
AndrewAugust 23–24, 1992[a]16 hours175 mph (280 km/h)922 hPa (27.23 inHg)The Bahamas, Florida, United States Gulf Coast$26.5 billion65[29][40]
MitchOctober 26–28, 19981 day 18 hours180 mph (285 km/h)905 hPa (26.72 inHg)Central America, Yucatán Peninsula, South Florida$6.08 billion11,374[41][42][43][44]
IsabelSeptember 11–14, 2003[a]1 day 18 hours165 mph (270 km/h)915 hPa (27.02 inHg)Greater Antilles, Bahamas
Eastern United States, Ontario
$5.37 billion51[29][45]
IvanSeptember 9–14, 2004[a]2 days 12 hours165 mph (270 km/h)910 hPa (26.87 inHg)The Caribbean, Venezuela, United States Gulf Coast$23.3 billion124[29][46]
EmilyJuly 16, 20056 hours160 mph (260 km/h)929 hPa (27.43 inHg)Windward Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Texas$1.01 billion17[47]
KatrinaAugust 28–29, 200518 hours175 mph (280 km/h)902 hPa (26.64 inHg)Bahamas, United States Gulf Coast$125 billion1,392[48]
RitaSeptember 21–22, 20051 day180 mph (285 km/h)895 hPa (26.43 inHg)Cuba, United States Gulf Coast$12 billion125[49]
WilmaOctober 19, 200518 hours185 mph (295 km/h)882 hPa (26.05 inHg)Greater Antilles, Central America, Mexico, Florida$29.4 billion87[50][51][52][53]
DeanAugust 18–21, 2007[a]1 day175 mph (280 km/h)905 hPa (26.72 inHg)The Caribbean, Central America$1.76 billion45[32][54][55]
FelixSeptember 3–4, 2007[a]1 day175 mph (280 km/h)929 hPa (27.43 inHg)Nicaragua, Honduras$720 million133[56][55][57][58]
MatthewOctober 1, 201612 hours165 mph (270 km/h)934 hPa (27.58 inHg)Antilles, Venezuela, Colombia
United States East Coast, Atlantic Canada
$15.1 billion603[59]
IrmaSeptember 5–9, 2017[a]3 days180 mph (285 km/h)914 hPa (26.99 inHg)Cape Verde, The Caribbean, Virgin Islands
Cuba, Florida
$64.8 billion138[60]
MariaSeptember 18–20, 2017[a]1 day 4 hours
15 minutes
175 mph (280 km/h)908 hPa (26.81 inHg)Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands
$91.4 billion3,018[61]
MichaelOctober 10, 201830 minutes160 mph (260 km/h)919 hPa (27.14 inHg)Central America, United States Gulf Coast$25.1 billion74[62]
DorianSeptember 1–2, 20191 day 6 hours185 mph (295 km/h)910 hPa (26.87 inHg)The Caribbean, The Bahamas,
United States East Coast, Atlantic Canada, Greenland
$5 billion84[63]
LorenzoSeptember 29, 20193 hours160 mph (260 km/h)925 hPa (27.32 inHg)Cabo Verde, Azores, Western Europe$367 million20[64]
IanSeptember 28, 20226 hours160 mph (260 km/h)937 hPa (27.67 inHg)Caribbean, Cuba, Florida, The Carolinas$113 billion160[65]
LeeSeptember 8, 20236 hours165 mph (270 km/h)926 hPa (27.34 inHg)Bermuda, New England, Atlantic Canada$80 million4[66]
BerylJuly 2, 202415 hours165 mph (270 km/h)932 hPa (27.52 inHg)Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Yucatán Peninsula, Texas$8.3 billion73[67]
MiltonOctober 7–9, 2024[a]1 day 5 hours 5 minutes180 mph (285 km/h)897 hPa (26.49 inHg)Yucatán Peninsula, Florida, and The Bahamas$34.3 billion35[68]
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Notes

  1. Discontinuous duration (weakened below Category 5, then restrengthened to that classification)

Other systems

The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane and Hurricanes Dog (1950), Easy (1951), Cleo (1958), Donna (1960), Ethel (1960) and Carla (1961) were all originally estimated to have Category 5 sustained wind speeds. However, later systematic studies by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project found that the wind speeds associated with these systems were overestimated and downgraded them to either Category 4 or 3. Most recently, Hurricane Iota (2020) was operationally considered to be a Category 5 hurricane, with estimated 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 160 mph (260 km/h).[69] However, during their routine post-analysis best track process after the season, the NHC downgraded Iota to a Category 4 hurricane as a result of post season reanalysis, which suggested that there was a high bias in windspeeds derived from the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer instrument.[69]

Number by month

More information Month, Number of hurricanes ...
Number of recorded Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes by month[6]
Month Number of hurricanes
July
2
August
7
September
25
October
7
November
1
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Landfalls

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Hurricane Michael as it was making landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in 2018

Nearly all Atlantic Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall at some location while a tropical or subtropical cyclone. This is primarily because of their proximity to land in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, where the usual synoptic weather patterns carry them towards land, as opposed to the westward, oceanic mean track of Eastern Pacific hurricanes.[70] Nineteen of the storms made landfall at least once while at Category 5 intensity;[6] 2007 and 2017 are the only years in which two storms made landfall at this intensity.[6] All but five landfalling systems (the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Carol, Esther, Mitch and Isabel) did so at major hurricane strength.

Many of these systems made landfall shortly after weakening from a Category 5 hurricane. This weakening can be caused by dry air near land, shallower waters due to shelving, interaction with land, eyewall replacement cycles, increased vertical wind shear, or cooler waters near shore.[48][citation needed] The only Atlantic Category 5 hurricanes that did not make landfall while a tropical or subtropical cyclone were Hurricane Lee, which still made landfall as an extratropical cyclone in Nova Scotia, and Hurricane Lorenzo, which still brought hurricane-force winds to the Azores. These two storms are therefore not included in the table below.

The following table lists these hurricanes by landfall intensity.

More information Name, Year ...
Name Year
Category 5
Category 4
Category 3
Category 2
Category 1
Tropical or
subtropical storm
Tropical or
subtropical depression
Refs.
"Cuba"1924CubaFloridaThe Bahamas[6][71]
"Okeechobee"1928Puerto RicoGuadeloupe, Lucayan Archipelago, FloridaSouth Carolina[6]
"Abaco"1932The Bahamas[6]
"Cuba"1932Little Cayman, CubaThe BahamasMartinique[6]
"Cuba–Brownsville"1933The BahamasCuba, Texas[6]
"Tampico"1933Yucatán PeninsulaMainland Mexico[6]
"Labor Day"1935Florida KeysNorthwest FloridaThe Bahamas[6]
"New England"1938New York, Connecticut[6]
"Great Atlantic"1944New York, Rhode Island[6]
Carol1953New Brunswick[6]
Janet1955Yucatán PeninsulaMainland Mexico[72]
Esther1961Massachusetts, Maine[73]
Hattie1961Belize[72]
Inez1966Dominican RepublicCuba, Haiti, mainland MexicoCuba[72]
Beulah1967Mexico[72]
Camille1969MississippiCuba[72]
Edith1971NicaraguaLouisianaBelize, Mexico[30]
Anita1977Mainland Mexico[6]
David1979Dominican RepublicDominicaFloridaCuba, The Bahamas, Georgia[6]
Allen1980Texas, Barbados[6]
Gilbert1988Quintana RooJamaica, Tamaulipas[36]
Hugo1989Guadeloupe, Saint Croix, South CarolinaPuerto Rico[38]
Andrew1992Eleuthera, FloridaBerry IslandsLouisiana[40]
Mitch1998HondurasCampeche, Florida[41]
Isabel2003North Carolina[45]
Ivan2004Alabama, GrenadaLouisiana[46]
Emily2005Quintana RooTamaulipasGrenada[47]
Katrina2005Louisiana, MississippiFlorida[48]
Rita2005Louisiana[49]
Wilma2005Cozumel, Quintana RooFlorida[50]
Dean2007Quintana RooVeracruz[54]
Felix2007NicaraguaGrenada[56]
Matthew2016Haiti, Cuba, Grand BahamaSouth Carolina[59]
Irma2017Barbuda, Saint Martin, Virgin Gorda, CubaLittle Inagua, Florida KeysSouthwest Florida[60]
Maria2017DominicaPuerto Rico[74]
Michael2018Florida[62]
Dorian2019Abaco Islands, Grand Bahama (2×)North CarolinaSt. ThomasSaint Lucia, Barbados[63]
Ian2022Florida (2x)CubaSouth Carolina[65]
Beryl2024CarriacouQuintana Roo, Texas[75]
Milton2024Florida [68]
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See also

References

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