Are
Category 6 Hurricanes Coming Soon?
Atmospheric researchers tend to agree that tropical
cyclones of unusual ferocity are coming this century,
but the strange fact is that there is no consensus to
date on the five-point scale used to classify the
power of these anticipated storms. In what may sound
like a page from the script of the rock-band spoof
Spinal Tap with its reference to a beyond-loud
electric guitar amplifier volume 11, there is actually
talk of adding a sixth level to the current Saffir-Simpson
hurricane scale, on which category 5 intensity means
sustained winds higher than 155 miles per hour (250
kilometers per hour) for at least one minute, with no
speed cap.