What is the highest category on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale?

Category 5 is the highest category on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale.

The Saffir–Simpson scale classifies hurricanes by their maximum sustained wind speed. Category 5 begins at 157 miles per hour, or 252 kilometres per hour, and has no upper limit within the scale. It describes exceptionally destructive winds capable of catastrophic damage to well-built structures.

Civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson developed the scale in the early 1970s. Saffir focused on wind damage, while Simpson added storm-surge considerations during the scale’s early development. The modern scale is based only on wind speed, not rainfall, storm surge, size, or total damage.

A Category 5 storm is not necessarily the largest or wettest tropical cyclone. A lower-category hurricane can still cause severe flooding because of rainfall, surge, slow movement, or a large wind field.