Hurricane Categories Explained: What Each Storm Level Can Do

When hurricane season rolls around, it can get confusing fast. One storm is called a Category 1. Another jumps to a Category 4. Then someone online starts talking about a “Category 6 hurricane,” and suddenly everyone is wondering what any of it actually means.

Here’s the simple version: hurricane categories are based on wind speed. The higher the category, the stronger the sustained winds and the greater the potential for wind damage. But the category does not tell the whole story. Storm surge, flooding rainfall, and tornadoes can be deadly at any hurricane strength.

More About Hurricane Categories

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is the main scale used by the National Hurricane Center to rate hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific. It runs from Category 1 to Category 5 and is based only on a hurricane’s maximum sustained wind speed.