Melissa is now a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, the U.S. Hurricane Center said on Saturday. The hurricane was located about 280 miles (450 km) from Port-au-Prince, Haiti,

A Georgia Tech researcher says we may need more tools to measure the full impacts of strong hurricanes like Melissa.

From grocery stores to neighborhoods, a hurricane's category might be among the most discussed aspects of a threatening storm. Those categories are based on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which is one tool for assessing the intensity of a ...

For the last few years, I have opined about the inadequacy of the Saffir — Simpson scale for conveying the full impacts of hurricanes. Harvey (2017), Milton (2024) and Helene (2024) are examples of hurricanes that altered landscapes and entire regions ...

When you hear terms like Category 1, Category 3 or even the rare Category 5 mentioned regarding hurricanes, what is being discussed is the classification system for hurricanes based on their winds. Here is what the scale means: The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane ...

Tropical systems tracked by the National Hurricane Center will be classified as depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes based on their intensity. The NHC will label a system a tropical depression when it has sustained winds below 38 mph but shows the ...

The hurricane severity scale used today only measures wind, not storm surge or rainfall. USF professor Jennifer Collins helped develop a new system called the Tropical Cyclone Severity Scale. Researchers hope it will give the public more insight to better ...

As climate change continues to reshape the intensity and behavior of hurricanes, meteorologists and researchers are examining whether the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a decades-old classification system, still adequately communicates the full scope ...

Hurricane Melissa is a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with a maximum of 5, with maximum sustained winds of 220 kilometers per hour and higher gusts.