The longstanding hurricane rating system, the Saffir-Simpson Scale, only takes into account sustained wind speeds and not the ...

If a storm is a Category 3, 4 or 5, it is deemed a "major" hurricane due to the potential for "significant loss of life and ...

Following a hurricane at a CATEGORY 4, most of an area will be “uninhabitable” for anywhere between weeks or months. CATEGORY 5: This is the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.

Let's break it down. Big Picture -What It Measures: As the name implies, the current version is strictly a wind scale that rates a hurricane's sustained winds (not gusts) from Category 1 through 5.

At that point, the NHC uses the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale of intensity to categorize it on a scale of 1-5.

But so far, it's been hard to switch because Americans, everyone knows that Saffir-Simpson scale. Everyone understands hurricane Category 1 through 5.

We've experienced the damage from hurricane winds first hand, so here's a look at how it's broken down. Chief Meteorologist Travis Herzog explains the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale.

"The Saffir-Simpson scale is a measure of wind speed. But far more people die from hurricane flooding than from strong winds. Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wilmington as a Category 1 storm.

But so far, it’s been hard to switch because Americans, everyone knows that Saffir-Simpson scale. Everyone understands hurricane Category 1 through 5. SCHMITZ: You know, this brings up a bigger ...

Hurricane Erin reached the maximum intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale last Saturday (16), becoming a category 5 storm with winds of up to 260 km/h (161 mph).