Unofficial Category 5 storms

[Category5Kaiju]

Not exactly sure where I would have put this otherwise, but some very big news I just discovered now: a hurricane in 1944 got recently upgraded to Cat 5 status (Great Atlantic hurricane). It is 160/918 now and is as of now the only recorded Cat 5 hurricane in the 1940s.

[Teban54]

Not exactly sure where I would have put this otherwise, but some very big news I just discovered now: a hurricane in 1944 got recently upgraded to Cat 5 status (Great Atlantic hurricane). It is 160/918 now and is as of now the only recorded Cat 5 hurricane in the 1940s.

Indeed. From the reanalysis webpage:

September 2022 - The 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane over the open ocean based upon recently rediscovered ship logs from the ship USS Alacrity. This was research provided by Jack Beven.

This track seems like the kind that will generate 100 pages on Storm2K about whether it will hit Florida and become another Andrew/Dorian:

[Category5Kaiju]

Not exactly sure where I would have put this otherwise, but some very big news I just discovered now: a hurricane in 1944 got recently upgraded to Cat 5 status (Great Atlantic hurricane). It is 160/918 now and is as of now the only recorded Cat 5 hurricane in the 1940s.

Indeed. From the reanalysis webpage:

September 2022 - The 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane over the open ocean based upon recently rediscovered ship logs from the ship USS Alacrity. This was research provided by Jack Beven.

This track seems like the kind that will generate 100 pages on Storm2K about whether it will hit Florida and become another Andrew/Dorian:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/1944_Atlantic_hurricane_7_track.png/1920px-1944_Atlantic_hurricane_7_track.png

I genuinely have a feeling that especially after this happening, that there might really be more pre-satellite storms that attained Cat 5 status at some point in their lives despite being designated as Cat 4 currently.

[Keldeo1997]

Ian might have a argument. Has stronger Recon support than storms like Iota. Recon having abort mission was super unfortunate.

[Ptarmigan]

Not exactly sure where I would have put this otherwise, but some very big news I just discovered now: a hurricane in 1944 got recently upgraded to Cat 5 status (Great Atlantic hurricane). It is 160/918 now and is as of now the only recorded Cat 5 hurricane in the 1940s.

I would not be surprised if there are more Category 5 hurricanes in the 1940s.

I wonder about Racer's hurricane of 1837. It did go over the Western Caribbean where the water is warm. It would not surprise if it was a Category 5 hurricane over the Caribbean.

[Hurricane2022]

I think we can add Hurricane Dora and Typhoon Saola (still pending reanalysis from JTWC) from 2023 to the list of Unofficial Cat 5 cyclones.

[al78]

Atlantic: Diana 1984, Helene/Joan 1988, Edouard 1996, Floyd 1999, Gustav 2008, Igor 2010, Jose 2017
EPAC: Olivia 1975, Norma 1981, John/Norman/Olivia 1982, Kiko/Tico 1983, Douglas/Elida/Norbert 1984, Max/Otis 1987, Hector 1988, Ismael/Raymond 1989, Hernan/Marie 1990, Kevin/Linda 1991, Frank/Virgil 1992, Dora/Eugene/Kenneth 1993

Just going to echo the call for Gustav here; it had a measured gust in excess of 180kt - that just doesn't happen with 135kt systems. Not to mention, the satellite appearance was stunning.

According to the NHC post-event report, the 184 kt gust was recorded alongside a 135 kt 1-min sustained wind and that was the basis for the peak intensity estimate. There is always the question of whether we really be sure that the station recorded the absolute peak sustained wind that was present anywhere in the storm? Could there not have been a 140 kt sustained wind a few miles away where no evidence is available to detect it?

[ljmac75]

Atlantic: Diana 1984, Helene/Joan 1988, Edouard 1996, Floyd 1999, Gustav 2008, Igor 2010, Jose 2017
EPAC: Olivia 1975, Norma 1981, John/Norman/Olivia 1982, Kiko/Tico 1983, Douglas/Elida/Norbert 1984, Max/Otis 1987, Hector 1988, Ismael/Raymond 1989, Hernan/Marie 1990, Kevin/Linda 1991, Frank/Virgil 1992, Dora/Eugene/Kenneth 1993

Just going to echo the call for Gustav here; it had a measured gust in excess of 180kt - that just doesn't happen with 135kt systems. Not to mention, the satellite appearance was stunning.

According to the NHC post-event report, the 184 kt gust was recorded alongside a 135 kt 1-min sustained wind and that was the basis for the peak intensity estimate. There is always the question of whether we really be sure that the station recorded the absolute peak sustained wind that was present anywhere in the storm? Could there not have been a 140 kt sustained wind a few miles away where no evidence is available to detect it?

Probably because nothing else seemed to indicate winds higher than 130 kts by typical NHC assessment, looking at the Gustav report. Pressure was only down to 941 mbar at the time, and dropsondes didn't report anything higher than 108 kts. The winds at that station may have also been enhanced by the local topography due to nearby mountains and the elevation, so maybe they didn't want to go any higher from it. The report doesn't actually mention the mountains or anything though, so maybe they didn't factor that in.

[GSBHurricane]

Atlantic: Diana 1984, Helene/Joan 1988, Edouard 1996, Floyd 1999, Gustav 2008, Igor 2010, Jose 2017
EPAC: Olivia 1975, Norma 1981, John/Norman/Olivia 1982, Kiko/Tico 1983, Douglas/Elida/Norbert 1984, Max/Otis 1987, Hector 1988, Ismael/Raymond 1989, Hernan/Marie 1990, Kevin/Linda 1991, Frank/Virgil 1992, Dora/Eugene/Kenneth 1993

Just going to echo the call for Gustav here; it had a measured gust in excess of 180kt - that just doesn't happen with 135kt systems. Not to mention, the satellite appearance was stunning.

According to the NHC post-event report, the 184 kt gust was recorded alongside a 135 kt 1-min sustained wind and that was the basis for the peak intensity estimate. There is always the question of whether we really be sure that the station recorded the absolute peak sustained wind that was present anywhere in the storm? Could there not have been a 140 kt sustained wind a few miles away where no evidence is available to detect it?

If this is true (180 kt wind gusts) then Gustav being a C5 is definitely a possibility.

[Teban54]

There's a good chance Kirk may be added to this list in a few hours.

[aspen]

There's a good chance Kirk may be added to this list in a few hours.

If Lorenzo was a 5 with such a ragged eye and CDO, then Kirk definitely is.

[Ptarmigan]

There's a good chance Kirk may be added to this list in a few hours.

If Lorenzo was a 5 with such a ragged eye and CDO, then Kirk definitely is.

I keep thinking Kirk was a Category 5 hurricane.

[FireRat]

Yep, Kirk '24 deserves to be added to this thread!