The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale rates a hurricane from 1 to 5 by one number: its maximum sustained wind. The National Hurricane Center, which maintains the scale, is explicit that it does not take into account storm surge, rainfall flooding or tornadoes, and that hurricanes rated Category 3 and higher are called major hurricanes. A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph is a tropical storm and has no category.
This site lists every tropical system whose centre passed within 75 miles of a US city, from the National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 record. That gives two ways to count categories: the strongest a storm ever was, wherever it was, and how strong it was when it came closest to a city. The two counts differ a great deal, and the difference is the most useful thing the scale can tell someone who lives inland.
| Category | Sustained wind | Knots |
|---|---|---|
| Category 1 | 74–95 mph | 64–82 kt |
| Category 2 | 96–110 mph | 83–95 kt |
| Category 3 | 111–129 mph | 96–112 kt |
| Category 4 | 130–156 mph | 113–136 kt |
| Category 5 | 157 mph or more | 137 kt or more |
Thresholds as published by the National Hurricane Center. HURDAT2 records wind in knots.
Peak strength of the storms that came near US cities
737 tropical systems in HURDAT2 passed within 75 miles of at least one US city. At their peak, 448 of them (61%) were hurricanes and 197 (27%) were major hurricanes; 30 reached Category 5 at some point in their lives. The remaining 289 never got past tropical-storm strength.
| Category | At peak | At closest pass to any city |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical storm | 289 | 366 |
| Category 1 | 156 | 153 |
| Category 2 | 95 | 94 |
| Category 3 | 87 | 78 |
| Category 4 | 80 | 37 |
| Category 5 | 30 | 9 |
"At closest pass" is the strongest wind the storm had at its closest point to any one city on this site.
Measured at the point where each storm came nearest a city, the picture changes. Only 371 storms (50%) were still at hurricane strength when they passed closest to some city, and 124 (17%) were major hurricanes at that moment. Of the 30 storms that peaked at Category 5, 9 were still Category 5 at their closest pass to a US city. Storms reach their peak over warm open water; most weaken before or as they reach land, and the scale category in a storm's name is usually its peak, not what any city felt.
Categories at the closest pass, city by city
Counting city by city, there are 267,817 pairs of a city and a storm that came within 75 miles of it. In 220,107 of those pairs (82%) the storm was below hurricane strength at its closest point. A Category 4 passed within range of 526 cities and a Category 5 within range of 188; in all, 1,825 cities have had a major hurricane's centre pass within 75 miles.
| Category at closest point | City passes | Storms | Cities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical storm | 220,107 | 667 | 10,716 |
| Category 1 | 31,288 | 346 | 5,357 |
| Category 2 | 10,285 | 208 | 2,909 |
| Category 3 | 4,837 | 121 | 1,802 |
| Category 4 | 1,078 | 46 | 526 |
| Category 5 | 222 | 9 | 188 |
The strongest storms at their closest pass
The strongest wind on record at a closest pass to a US city on this site belongs to the Unnamed 1935 storm, at 184 mph (160 knots) when its centre was 13 miles from Islamorada, FL. The table lists the storms that were Category 4 or stronger at their closest point to a city, with the city they came nearest at that strength.
| Storm | Wind at closest pass | Category | Peak | City | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed 1935 storm | 184 mph | Category 5 | 184 mph | Islamorada, FL | 13 mi |
| Camille 1969 | 173 mph | Category 5 | 173 mph | Waveland, MS | overhead |
| Irma 2017 | 173 mph | Category 5 | 178 mph | Loiza, PR | 41 mi |
| Andrew 1992 | 167 mph | Category 5 | 173 mph | Key Biscayne, FL | 14 mi |
| Unnamed 1928 storm | 161 mph | Category 5 | 161 mph | Maunabo, PR | overhead |
| Michael 2018 | 161 mph | Category 5 | 161 mph | Apalachicola, FL | 34 mi |
| Inez 1966 | 161 mph | Category 5 | 161 mph | Boqueron, PR | 69 mi |
| Ian 2022 | 159 mph | Category 5 | 161 mph | Marco Island, FL | 58 mi |
| Maria 2017 | 158 mph | Category 5 | 173 mph | Vieques, PR | 21 mi |
| Lenny 1999 | 155 mph | Category 4 | 155 mph | Vieques, PR | 66 mi |
| Charley 2004 | 150 mph | Category 4 | 150 mph | St James City, FL | 8 mi |
| Unnamed 1886 storm | 150 mph | Category 4 | 150 mph | Port Aransas, TX | 26 mi |
What the category does not tell you
A category describes the wind near the centre, and a hurricane's strongest winds sit within a few dozen miles of it. A city 60 miles from a Category 4's centre is on this site's list for that storm but did not feel Category 4 winds. The reverse also holds: the National Hurricane Center notes that hurricanes of every category can produce deadly storm surge, rain-driven flooding and tornadoes, none of which the scale measures. For current storms and what to do, follow the National Weather Service.
HURDAT2 is revised as old storms are re-analysed, so peak categories for early storms can change between file revisions. Winds before the era of aircraft reconnaissance and satellites are estimates from ship and land reports.