Time to Replace the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale?
Abstract
The 2005 hurricane season set many new records, including the most named storms (26) and the most hurricanes in a season (14). Of the four hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S., three (Katrina, Rita, and Wilma) reached Category 5, struck the Gulf Coast, and inflicted severe damage and loss of life. Hurricane Wilma had an observed sealevel center pressure of 882 millibar (mbar) at its peak and is the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Katrina damaged vast areas along the Mississippi coast, flooded large parts of New Orleans, and is the most destructive hurricane on record. The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was also busy, with 14 named storms, nine of which were hurricanes and four of which (Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne) brought heavy damage to the southeastern United States.
- Publication:
-
EOS Transactions
- Pub Date:
- January 2006
- DOI:
- Bibcode:
- 2006EOSTr..87....3K
- Keywords:
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- Atmospheric Composition and Structure: General or miscellaneous;
- Global Change: Impacts of global change (1225);
- Hydrology: Extreme events