Has There Ever Been A Category 6 Hurricane?
No, officially, there has never been a category 6 hurricane. It however could be argued that some particularly powerful storms that are powerful, even by category 5 status, could be seen as category 6, if the title existed.
What Is Meant By Category 6 Hurricane?
A category 6 hurricane refers to a theoretical storm measured on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Officially, the scale only goes up to category 5, which refers to a hurricane that has wind speeds of 252 km/h (157 mph) or more. This makes it different from the Fujita Scale, which measures tornadoes. The highest level of the Fujita Scale, F5, has a maximum wind speed of 512 km/h (318 mph). This means that an F6 tornado is left as a possibility by the scale, even if not officially on there. However, since the Saffir-Simpson scale has no maximum, it is possible for any speed to be considered category 5. Even if a hurricane had an infinite wind speed, it would not break the scale.
What Would A Category 6 Hurricane Look Like?
Since the Saffir-Simpson scale is divided by wind speed, we can take a mathematical approach. So let’s look at the wind speeds on the current scale.
Category 1 ranges from 119-153 km/h (74-95 mph), which gives it a 34 km/h (21 mph) difference between its top and bottom. Category 2 starts and ends at 154-177 km/h (96-110 mph), meaning there is a 23 km/h (14 mph) range within the category. The numbers for category 3 are 178-208 km/h (111-129 mph), giving it a 30 km/h (18 mph) range. Category 4’s range is 209-251 km/h (130-156 mph), giving it a range of 42 km/h (26 mph), for an average of 32 km\h (20 mph) after rounding.
Following this average, it would mean that category 5 hurricanes, starting at 252 km/h (157 mph), would top out at about 284 km/h (176 mph). This means that category 6, if it existed, would start at approximately 285 km/h (177 mph), and if it followed the same pattern, would end at 317 km/h (197 mph). If a storm was even more powerful than that, it would become a category 7, if such a rating existed.
Which Hurricanes Might Qualify As Category 6?
Since there is no official category 6, no hurricane has ever qualified as one. However, there are many category 5 hurricanes that were very damaging, even by the extremely high standard of category 5. There are plenty of hurricanes that almost made this list: for example, hurricanes Andrew, Mitch, and Ivan, among others, were all very powerful.
1935 Labour Day Hurricane
The 1935 Labour Day Hurricane was so powerful, it was retroactively given the strength of category 5, despite having happened before the creation of the Saffir-Simpson scale. It has wind recorded at 295 km/h (185 mph), which would make it strong enough to be a category 6 by the standard set by the theoretical scale mentioned earlier in this article. Due to the lack of warning systems in place at the time, it killed 490 people. It also did $100 million USD in damages at the time, which would be the equivalent of over $2 billion USD in today’s money. States hit include Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New York.
Typhoon Tip (1979 – Pacific)
Typhoon Tip, like all Typhoons, crossed that Pacific Ocean, and as a result, had more time than an Atlantic Hurricane to build up its strength. As a result, it had wind speeds of 305 km/h (190 mph). However, what it was known for was being the largest storm of its kind of all time, at over 2220 km (1380 mph) wide. It would have been able to cover half of the United States if it was positioned to do so. It killed 99 people, and did almost $500 million USD in damages at the time, with Japan the largest hit country, and the Philippines, China, Russia, North and South Korea, all also being hit, until it died out in Alaskan waters. It also had the lowest pressure ever recorded on Earth.
Hurricane Allen (1980 – Atlantic)
Hurricane Allen for a long time, held the record for the highest winds recorded in an Atlantic Hurricane, with winds hitting 305 km/h (190 mph), as strong as Typhoon Tip from 1 year before. It killed 281 people, 220 of which were in the ill-prepared country of Haiti, which lacked the systems to properly prepare for such a storm. American states hit by the storm include Texas and Louisiana. Over $1 billion USD of dollars was done.
Hurricane Gilbert (1988 – Atlantic)
Hurricane Gilbert had the lowest pressure of any hurricane in the Atlantic when it hit. Its winds blew a powerful 295 mph (185 mph), which led to 318 deaths, over 200 of which were in Mexico. Mexico also suffered about $2 billion USD in damages, out of the almost $3 billion USD done at the time.
Hurricane Katrina (2005 – Atlantic)
Possibly the most talked about hurricane of all time, Katrina devastated New Orleans. Despite having winds that reach ‘only’ 280 km/h (175 mph), it was, at the time, the costliest storm on record, doing an eye popping $125 billion USD in damages, and killed over 1000 people, mostly in Louisiana and Mississippi. The storm was powerful enough that it still existed when it reached Ontario, although it had lost hurricane status by that time.
Hurricane Wilma (2005 – Atlantic)
Despite not being as damaging as Katrina earlier that year, Wilma was more powerful, having wind speeds of 295 km/h (185 mph). It also overtook hurricane Gilbert for having the lowest pressure in the history of Atlantic hurricanes. It killed over $25 billion USD in damages, and killed over 50 people, 30 of which were in America. Florida was the hardest hit state, with the remnants of the storm hitting Nova Scotia.
Typhoon Haiyan (2013 – Pacific)
At the time of this article, Typhoon Haiyan is the most powerful Pacific Typhoon ever, having winds of 315 km/h (195 mph), making it even more powerful than Typhoon Tip. It caused over 6000 deaths in the Philippines, and did an estimated $3 billion in damages.
Hurricane Patricia (2015 – Pacific)
Having the highest sustained wind speeds of any tropical cyclone of all time (as of when this article was written), hurricane Patricia had sustained winds of 345 km/h (215 mph). The storm formed just west of Mexico and moved North, hitting the side of the country. Despite this, it hitting less populated areas and dying off fast meant that its death count of 13, and $484 million in damages were low compared to other storms on this list.
Hurricane Dorian (2019 – Atlantic)
Hurricane Dorian had wind speeds of 295 km/h (185 mph), and killed 84 people in the Bahamas and the United States. It also did over $5 billion USD in damages. It was also able to sustain hurricane strength long enough to hit Nova Scotia as a category 1 storm. Despite being powerful enough to leave over 400,000 homes without power, and be named the strongest storm in Nova Scotia history, it didn’t kill anyone in Canada.
