The highest category on the Saffir–Simpson scale for tropical cyclones is Category 5.
Category 5 represents a hurricane with sustained winds of at least 157 miles per hour, or 252 kilometers per hour. The scale was developed in the early 1970s by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson to communicate likely wind damage in a simple format.
The scale applies to hurricanes and other tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and northeastern Pacific. It is based only on maximum sustained wind speed, not storm surge, rainfall, tornadoes, or the storm’s overall size. A lower-category storm can therefore cause catastrophic flooding if it moves slowly or produces exceptional rainfall.
Category 5 has no formal upper limit in the original five-category system. Some storms have winds far above the threshold, but they remain Category 5 rather than Category 6. The scale also differs from regional cyclone scales used in other ocean basins.