What scale measures hurricane intensity from Category 1 to 5?

What scale measures hurricane intensity from Category 1 to 5? The Saffir–Simpson scale is the answer. More formally called the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, it ranks hurricanes according to their maximum sustained wind speeds.

Civil engineer Herbert Saffir developed the original concept in 1969 while studying hurricane-resistant housing. Meteorologist Robert Simpson, then director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, helped adapt it for operational use. The scale became public in the early 1970s and uses five categories, with Category 1 beginning at 74 mph sustained winds and Category 5 beginning at 157 mph.

The scale measures wind, not total hurricane danger. It does not directly rate rainfall, inland flooding, storm surge, tornadoes, or the size of a storm. That is why a lower-category hurricane can still be extremely destructive, particularly if it moves slowly or strikes a densely populated coast. The Richter scale concerns earthquakes, the Fujita scale concerns tornado damage, and the Beaufort scale describes wind force more generally.