Is Category 5 the worst type of hurricane? Absolutely not.
The Saffir-Simpson scale ranks hurricanes on their wind speeds, on a scale from 1 to 5. But critics say the scale doesn't represent the true danger.
From Category 1 to Category 5, hurricane forecasters' famous rating system has become ingrained in the minds of millions of Americans from Texas to Maine.
The scale, known as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, is a rating based on the storm's maximum sustained wind speed, which ranges from 74 to 157 mph or higher for a hurricane. It remains popular, in part, because of its simplicity.
But the scale has long been criticized for that simplicity, too. It does not take into account potentially deadly hurricane hazards such as storm surge, rainfall, flooding and tornadoes. And that worries hurricane forecasters.
“We’ve been trying to deemphasize it,” John Cangialosi, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, told USA TODAY. Instead, the group has worked to focus on the dangers from each individual storm, whether that’s wind, storm surge, heavy rain or a combination of all the hazards.
History of the Saffir-Simpson scale
The scale was developed by structural engineer Herbert Saffir in 1969 as part of a United Nations project. It was later adapted by meteorologist Robert Simpson in the early 1970s and has been an integral tool for alerting the public about the dangers of hurricanes of various intensities ever since, the National Hurricane Center said.
The scale has been compared to a similar (but very different) rating system for tornadoes.
In the Fujita tornado damage scale, meteorologists assign a ranking only after examining the damage the tornado has done. The hurricane center assigns categories based on forecast estimates of the hurricane's fastest sustained wind speed.
The systems used for tornadoes might more accurately represent the damage they caused, but the hurricane scale helps forecasters warn residents about their potential risk.
Limitations of the scale
The limitations of the Saffir-Simpson scale have recently come under scrutiny because wind speed is often only an estimate. In addition, it's also highly localized because it depends on a speed sustained for a short time in one place.
National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan told USA TODAY the scale "only describes the wind threat and only describes the threat from the peak winds of the storm that typically occur over a very small area."
That's just one of the scale's many limitations. It also doesn't take into account deadly dangers such as storm surge, flooding, rainfall totals or where the storm will hit.That leads to awkward situations. A monster Category 5 storm can sound scary but pose no threat to people, spinning out at sea. But a mild-sounding Category 1 storm could cause death and destruction if it hit the wrong location.
How about a new scale?
One expert, meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections, suggested a new approach.
"We really need three scales instead of one to measure hurricane severity," he said. "One for wind, one for storm surge and one for rainfall."
Among the other researchers who would like to see the scale adjusted to better represent multiple extreme hazards is Jennifer Collins, a hurricane researcher and professor at the University of South Florida’s School of Geosciences. “To keep people safe, it’s time for a change,” Collins told USA TODAY in August 2025.
She and a team from the Netherlands published a paper in summer 2025 on an alternative to the Saffir-Simpson scale. The authors propose the "Tropical Cyclone Severity Scale," which incorporates storm surge and rainfall in addition to wind.
“Our scale would be very simple for the public to transition to,” she said. "We can’t just have a wind scale; wind only equals about 8% of fatalities." Rainfall accounts for 27% of fatalities, she added. "We’ve been using [the Saffir-Simpson scale] and over-relying on it for way too long.”
Barometric pressure a better measurement than wind
Another study from 2017 said a better scale would focus on barometric pressure. Specifically, it would focus on the difference in pressure between the center of the storm and outside it, which is officially known as the "central pressure deficit."
Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach also said barometric pressure should be used in a new scale: "Pressure correlates better with damage than wind and is easier to measure (both with aircraft and with land observations) than wind. Pressure, by definition, is an overall intensity metric, that is, it combines both size and wind."
But Brad Reinhart, a specialist at the hurricane center, urged caution in developing a new scale.
"The Saffir-Simpson wind scale still does a good job of conveying what the damage potential is for winds of that threshold," he said. "At the end of the day, it's just hard to see one single number of value ever accurately capturing the full magnitude that the hurricane poses."