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Category 5 MONSTERS!


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To qualify as a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale, maximum sustained winds must exceed 155 mph (135 kt). Through 1998, only twenty-two Atlantic storms have reached this intensity, and only eight were of category 5 strength at time of landfall. Of these 22, only two made U.S. landfall: the 1935 Florida Keys hurricane and Hurricane Camille, which hit the Mississippi coastline in 1969. The table below lists all known category 5 Atlantic hurricanes since records began in 1886.

List of Category 5 Atlantic Hurricanes
(1886 - Present)


Number Storm Name Maximum Wind Date Attained
(UTC) 		Landfall as
Category 5
1 Not Named 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 13, 1928 Puerto Rico
2 Not Named 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 5, 1932 Bahamas
3 Not Named 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 3, 1935 US/FL Keys
4 Not Named 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 19, 1938 ---
5 Not Named 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 16, 1947 Bahamas
6 Dog 160 kt
185 mph 		Sep 6, 1950 ---
7 Easy 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 7, 1951 ---
8 Janet 150 kt
175 mph 		Sep 28, 1955 Mexico
9 Cleo 140 kt
160 mph 		Aug 16, 1958 ---
10 Donna 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 4, 1960 ---
11 Ethel 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 15, 1960 ---
12 Carla 150 kt
175 mph 		Sep 11, 1961 ---
13 Hattie 140 kt
160 mph 		Oct 30, 1961 ---
14 Beulah 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 20, 1967 ---
15 Camille 165 kt
190 mph 		Aug 17, 1969 US/MS
16 Edith 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 9, 1971 Nicaragua
17 Anita 150 kt
175 mph 		Sep 2, 1977 ---
18 David 150 kt
175 mph 		Aug 30, 1979 ---
19 Allen 165 kt
190 mph 		Aug 7, 1980 ---
20 Gilbert 160 kt
185 mph 		Sep 14, 1988 Mexico
21 Hugo 140 kt
160 mph 		Sep 15, 1989 ---
22 Mitch 155 kt
180 mph 		Oct 26, 1998 ---

Interesting Facts

Note that several infamous storms which struck the U.S. are listed in the table above, but no entry appears in the "Landfall" column. This is because the storms had weakened to below Category 5 intensity at the time of U.S. landfall. Hurricanes which had reached Category 5 intensity but had weakened by the time of U.S. landfall include: hurricanes of 1928, 1938 (New England Hurricane), and 1947, plus Donna (1960), Ethel (1960), Carla (1961), Beulah (1967), David (1979), Allen (1980), Hugo (1989), and Mitch (1998). Though it was an extremely strong Category 4 storm, even at landfall, Hurricane Andrew never achieved Category 5 status.

Most Intense At U.S Landfall: 1935 Florida Keys 892 mb/ 26.35 in/ 140 kt
Highest Winds at U.S. Landfall: 1969 Camille 909 mb/ 26.84 in/ 165 kt
Most Intense Atlantic Hurricane: 1988 Gilbert 888 mb/ 26.22 in/ 160 kt
Longest as Category Five:* 1980 Allen 899 mb/ 26.55 in/ 165 kt

* Hurricane Allen reached Category 5 intensity three times along its path through the southern Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico: twice these periods were of 24-hours duration and the third lasted 18 hours.

1) With the exception of Camille, no Category 5 hurricanes have ever existed north of 30 degrees N nor south of 14 degrees N.
2) Four oceanic areas have experienced Category 5 intensity hurricanes twice: (26.5N, 77W), (18N, 86W),(24.5N, 96.5W) and (28-30N, 89W) (the path of Camille)!
3) Areas which have never experienced a landfalling hurricane of Category 5 intensity include: the U.S. East Coast, Cuba, Jamaica, nor most of the Windward or Leeward Islands!

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