Hurricane Milton is terrifying. Florida is no stranger to cyclonic winds, flooding, and tropical storms, but Milton is set to be one for the record books. The storm is currently wreaking havoc the Yucatán and is on a collision course with Florida on Wednesday.
It’s reached Category 5 levels of intensity, has sustained maximum winds of 180 mph, and gusts of 200 mph. If you want an idea of how serious Milton is, just watch meteorologist John Morales’ voice crack with emotion as he realizes the damage it will do.
But if Milton is such a monster, does it still fit into the “Category 5” description and, with these storms only increasing in intensity, is it time for a sixth category of super-storm?
The case for Category 6
Hurricanes are measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with Category 5 the most powerful hurricane. To achieve this, a storm must have 1-minute maximum sustained winds of over 157 mph, which Milton surpasses with relative ease. For reference, Category 4 tops out at 156 mph, and Category 3 at 129 mph. Logically this means any Category 6 should see sustained winds at around 180 mph – which Milton currently has.
Meteorologists have indeed called for a Category 6 ranking, particularly after Hurricane Irma in 2017, and even a theoretical Category 7 with winds at 230 mph. Higher ocean temperatures due to global warming are causing more violent storms, so we may need some way to categorize what are effectively city-killers.
The co-creator of the Saffir-Simpson scale, Robert Simpson, has pushed back on adding new categories, arguing that the scale is designed to measure hurricane damage on structures and beyond a certain point obliteration is obliteration, whether it’s by 200 or 230 mph winds. In a 1999 interview, he said:
“When you get up into winds in excess of 155 mph (249 km/h) you have enough damage if that extreme wind sustains itself for as much as six seconds on a building it’s going to cause rupturing damages that are serious no matter how well it’s engineered.”
But a lot has changed since 1999 and with storms getting ever more intense it seems inevitable that one day we’ll be hearing about the first official Category 6 on its way.
The reality for Florida
Unfortunately for Floridians whatever category Milton is put in and whatever language is used to describe it makes no difference to its vast destructive potential. It is forecast to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday, with the Tampa Bay area most severely hit. Forecasts are for 8-12 ft storm surges, widespread property damage, and extensive flooding.
As you would expect an evacuation is currently underway, with Tampa mayor Jane Castor underlining the danger by saying: “This is the real deal here with Milton. If you want to take on Mother Nature, she wins 100% of the time.” Freeways to safety are currently extremely busy, but we can only repeat the official advice that Milton isn’t a storm you can ride out. If you’re in its path, don’t be.
