Since 1924, there have been 41 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, including the most recent, Hurricane Beryl, which occurred in July of this year.

Category 5 is the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, which measures the intensity of tropical cyclones. Where a hurricane hits The scale ranges from 1, the weakest, to 5, the strongest, is determined by the sustained wind speed in the storm. A storm becomes Category 5, or “catastrophic,” if it can sustain winds of at least 157 miles per hour and there is no upper limit.

Of the 41 Category 5 hurricanes that have formed in the Atlantic basin, only four have made landfall, although they still had winds in excess of 157 miles per hour. Other destructive hurricanes have made landfall with wind speeds just below this level. The majority of these storms form in September. the peak of hurricane season in the Atlantic basin.

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What was the strongest hurricane ever recorded to hit the US?

The strongest recorded hurricane to make landfall in the United States was the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. On September 2nd of this year, the storm hit the Florida Keys Winds reached 185 miles per hour, with gusts over 200 miles per hour at times. The islands were completely inundated by a 15 to 20 foot storm surge.

Two other storms, Camille in 1969 and Michael in 2018 Category 5 hurricanes also made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Each had sustained wind speeds of 170 mph and 161 mph respectively. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 made landfall in South Miami-Dade County Packing winds of 165 miles per hour.

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What was the strongest hurricane ever recorded? Where and when was it?

While people in the United States are more familiar with hurricanes that originate in the Atlantic basin, tropical cyclones in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres can form in any of the world’s oceans when the right conditions come together. The strongest hurricane ever recorded worldwide occurred in the Eastern Pacific in 2015. Hurricane Patricia was the strongest sustained winds of 215 miles per hour. It sank to Category 4 before slamming into the west coast of Mexico with winds of 150 miles per hour.