Historical Cat5 Hurricanes

[SkeetoBite]

This link will take you to a dynamic mapping interface for all hurricanes to achieve catagory 5 status from 1851 to 2004.

http://www.skeetobiteweather.com/demo/cat5.asp

Please note that this is a limited demo of a future release of SkeetobiteWeather.com. No other content is currently available at this site. Much more dynamic content and all historical tropical system data will be available at launch.

You may link back to any images found in the demo. Maps you create here are automatically added to our archive.

[Hurricaneman]

Pretty good analysis

[Anonymous]

The 1886 Hurricane was not a Category 5. With winds of 155 mph, however made it just 1 mph shy at landfall. It's really just a technicality.

[skysummit]

What about Betsy in 1965? I didn't think she made landfall in La. as a Cat 5. ???

[SkeetoBite]

The 1886 Hurricane was not a Category 5. With winds of 155 mph, however made it just 1 mph shy at landfall. It's really just a technicality.

All date is derived from the official National Hurricane Center archives. The NHC "HURDAT" file is under constant review and update as the NHC works to improve this data in their "Best Track Analysis". We update our database as the updated NHC data is released. There may lag time in the changes by the NHC in wind speeds/catagory ratings, etc.

Not our data... just our maps!

Edited to add:
The NHC recorded the wind speeds in knots, which means this storm was indeed a Cat 5. Our program converts the nots to miles per hour and rounds to the nearest mhp.

[skysummit]

The 1886 Hurricane was not a Category 5. With winds of 155 mph, however made it just 1 mph shy at landfall. It's really just a technicality.

All date is derived from the official National Hurricane Center archives. The NHC "HURDAT" file is under constant review and update as the NHC works to improve this data in their "Best Track Analysis". We update our database as the updated NHC data is released. There may lag time in the changes by the NHC in wind speeds/catagory ratings, etc.

Not our data... just our maps!

Oh...then REALLY NICE maps!!!

[recmod]

Skeetobite....
Excellent maps, as always... Just one question regarding your map of Andrew. Shouldn't the Cat 5 intensity be shown at the FLorida landfall as well as when the storm passed over the Bahamas? Didn't the re-analysis 10 years later determine that Andrew did make landfall in FL as a Cat 5???

--Lou

[SkeetoBite]

Skeetobite....
Excellent maps, as always... Just one question regarding your map of Andrew. Shouldn't the Cat 5 intensity be shown at the FLorida landfall as well as when the storm passed over the Bahamas? Didn't the re-analysis 10 years later determine that Andrew did make landfall in FL as a Cat 5???

--Lou

Thanks.

While the NHC did reclassify Andrew (1992) as a CAT 5 at landfall, they have not updated the official records for the track. Seems strange since the reclassification occurred 2 years ago.

Edited to add:
We could easily edit this data ourselves, but we feel this eliminates the integrity of the official data as provided by the NHC.

[Anonymous]

135 kt=155 mph...send me a link where they say it was a Category 5. If it was a Cat 5, that means:

1886-1935-1969-1992

[SkeetoBite]

135 kt=155 mph...send me a link where they say it was a Category 5. If it was a Cat 5, that means:

1886-1935-1969-1992

<snip>
Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Hurricane Mitch of 1998 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity over the western Caribbean. Hurricane Gilbert of 1988 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity and is one of the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclones of record.
</snip>

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml

135X1.15 = 155.25

[*StOrmsPr*]

Georges was a cat 5????

[SkeetoBite]

The 1886 Hurricane was not a Category 5. With winds of 155 mph, however made it just 1 mph shy at landfall. It's really just a technicality.

The 1mph question is apparently a huge problem. I can see at least 3 storms where this is upgrading the storms in our system.

Good catch. Were auditing now.... the page will obviously change a little.

Please continue looking at this data and pointing out probems. This is why we are doing demo.

[*StOrmsPr*]

Hey SkeetoBite awesome maps!! pretty neat and easy to understand!!

The 1886 Hurricane was not a Category 5. With winds of 155 mph, however made it just 1 mph shy at landfall. It's really just a technicality.

The 1mph question is apparently a huge problem. I can see at least 3 storms where this is upgrading the storms in our system.

Good catch. Were auditing now.... the page will obviously change a little.

Please continue looking at this data and pointing out problems. This is why we are doing demo.

[SkeetoBite]

Thanks.

We identified the problem and have corrected it! Floydbuster is clearly "THE MAN".

Small matter of 0.25mph in wind speed caused the problem. No more unworthy cat 5 storms are included in this data set.

[Andrew92]

Nice maps SkeetoBite! However, may I offer one suggestion? Anything less than 35 knots is considered a tropical depression, not a tropical storm. My suggestion is maybe make a different color for a tropical depression, such as a darker green, or even blue.

It's up to you though....the maps are still very good!

-Andrew92

[SkeetoBite]

Nice maps SkeetoBite! However, may I offer one suggestion? Anything less than 35 knots is considered a tropical depression, not a tropical storm. My suggestion is maybe make a different color for a tropical depression, such as a darker green, or even blue.

It's up to you though....the maps are still very good!

-Andrew92

Done! Thanks much.