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See Also
See Again
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Introducing the Saffir-Simpson scale
- The system currently used to classify hurricanes in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean is the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS). It is more commonly referred to as the Saffir-Simpson scale.
© Getty Images
1 / 31 Fotos
Decades-old
- Developed by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson in the early 1970s, the Saffir-Simpson scale has been used to categorize hurricanes for more than 50 years.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
How it works
- The Saffir-Simpson scale ranks hurricanes on a scale of 1 to 5, based on their maximum sustained wind speed. A Category 5 hurricane is the most intense.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Measuring wind speed
- In order to measure wind speed, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flies reconnaissance aircraft over the sea in affected areas.
© Getty Images
4 / 31 Fotos
Reconnaissance aircraft
- These aircraft drop instruments that measure the pressure, direction, and speed of the wind as they fall towards the sea.
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
Limitations
- While the Saffir-Simpson scale is widely recognized and is considered an effective way to estimate potential property damage, it has several limitations.
© Getty Images
6 / 31 Fotos
The water problem
- Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it does not take into account other potentially deadly hurricane impacts, such as storm surge, heavy rainfall, or flooding.
© Getty Images
7 / 31 Fotos
Significant problem
- This is significant when we consider that the greatest threat to life in the event of a hurricane comes from water, not from wind.
© Getty Images
8 / 31 Fotos
Statistics
- Indeed, according to the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University, 90% of all hurricane-related deaths globally are caused by drowning.
© Getty Images
9 / 31 Fotos
Risk of drowning
- This drowning could either be the result of storm surges or flooding caused by extreme rainfall as the result of the hurricane.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Case in point
- Let's take Hurricane Sandy as an example. This extremely large tropical cyclone ravaged large areas of the Caribbean and coastal United States in October 2012.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
Sandy as Category 1
- At its peak intensity, Sandy was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall in Cuba. However, it did most of its damage after becoming a Category 1 hurricane while off the coast of the Northeastern United States.
© Getty Images
12 / 31 Fotos
Devastation
- Indeed, Sandy caused severe coastal flooding, which destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and led to damage totaling around US$88.5 billion.
© Getty Images
13 / 31 Fotos
Impetus for change
- Examples like this are one of the reasons that scientists are pushing for a new system of hurricane classification that considers water damage.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
The problem of size
- Another limitation of the Saffir-Simpson scale is that it does not consider the overall size of a hurricane, nor the horizontal distribution of the winds.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
Fresh ideas
- Bearing this in mind, meteorology professor Vasu Misra has developed a new metric to measure the destructive power of hurricanes.
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
TIKE
- It is known as Track Integrated Kinetic Energy (or TIKE) and is meant to complement, rather than replace, the Saffir-Simpson scale.
© Getty Images
17 / 31 Fotos
Relies on satellites
- The TIKE metric measures the size of the wind field, along with the intensity and overall lifespan of the storm. It relies on satellites rather than using reconnaissance aircraft.
© Getty Images
18 / 31 Fotos
Remaining challenges
- There are still significant challenges to overcome before scientists can rely on TIKE, however. For example, cloud cover during hurricanes can make it difficult to get accurate data.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
Location, location, location - Additionally, there are still large swathes of the world’s oceans for which satellite estimates are simply not available, due to the satellites’ locations.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
Going forward
- As a practical solution to the problem, some experts are calling for the introduction of a traffic light system to classify hurricanes.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
Basic concept
- The basic idea would be simply to rate the magnitude of risk for each hurricane on a color scale and issue a yellow, amber, or red alert.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Inspired by UK Met Office
- It would be along the lines of the system that the UK Met Office currently uses for ordinary weather forecasts.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Personalized approach
- The approach could be more personalized, with an app that provides people with information about the probability that various severe weather events will occur in their area.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Helping people on the ground
- This would enable people to understand the personal level of risk to which they are exposed, and to take the necessary precautions.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
Adding a Category 6
- Given that hurricanes are also becoming more intense as ocean temperatures rise, some scientists have also made the case for adding a Category 6 to the existing Saffir-Simpson scale.
© Getty Images
26 / 31 Fotos
The rationale
- The rationale for this is that there have already been hurricanes that surpassed the theoretical threshold for Category 6, and there is no reason to cap it.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
Controversy
- This proposal has been met with resistance, however, since some fear that a new category could encourage people to dismiss Category 5 hurricanes, despite their potential to cause catastrophic damage.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
In conclusion
- We may be some way off an ideal solution when it comes to classifying hurricanes. What seems clear for the moment, however, is that the Saffir-Simpson scale cannot be considered the single source of truth.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
Access to information
- The public would likely benefit from more detailed information about each potential hurricane, particularly when it comes to surges and rainfall flooding. Sources: (BBC) (NOAA)
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
Introducing the Saffir-Simpson scale
- The system currently used to classify hurricanes in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean is the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS). It is more commonly referred to as the Saffir-Simpson scale.
© Getty Images
1 / 31 Fotos
Decades-old
- Developed by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson in the early 1970s, the Saffir-Simpson scale has been used to categorize hurricanes for more than 50 years.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
How it works
- The Saffir-Simpson scale ranks hurricanes on a scale of 1 to 5, based on their maximum sustained wind speed. A Category 5 hurricane is the most intense.
© Getty Images
3 / 31 Fotos
Measuring wind speed
- In order to measure wind speed, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flies reconnaissance aircraft over the sea in affected areas.
© Getty Images
4 / 31 Fotos
Reconnaissance aircraft
- These aircraft drop instruments that measure the pressure, direction, and speed of the wind as they fall towards the sea.
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
Limitations
- While the Saffir-Simpson scale is widely recognized and is considered an effective way to estimate potential property damage, it has several limitations.
© Getty Images
6 / 31 Fotos
The water problem
- Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it does not take into account other potentially deadly hurricane impacts, such as storm surge, heavy rainfall, or flooding.
© Getty Images
7 / 31 Fotos
Significant problem
- This is significant when we consider that the greatest threat to life in the event of a hurricane comes from water, not from wind.
© Getty Images
8 / 31 Fotos
Statistics
- Indeed, according to the Florida Climate Center at Florida State University, 90% of all hurricane-related deaths globally are caused by drowning.
© Getty Images
9 / 31 Fotos
Risk of drowning
- This drowning could either be the result of storm surges or flooding caused by extreme rainfall as the result of the hurricane.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
Case in point
- Let's take Hurricane Sandy as an example. This extremely large tropical cyclone ravaged large areas of the Caribbean and coastal United States in October 2012.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
Sandy as Category 1
- At its peak intensity, Sandy was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall in Cuba. However, it did most of its damage after becoming a Category 1 hurricane while off the coast of the Northeastern United States.
© Getty Images
12 / 31 Fotos
Devastation
- Indeed, Sandy caused severe coastal flooding, which destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and led to damage totaling around US$88.5 billion.
© Getty Images
13 / 31 Fotos
Impetus for change
- Examples like this are one of the reasons that scientists are pushing for a new system of hurricane classification that considers water damage.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
The problem of size
- Another limitation of the Saffir-Simpson scale is that it does not consider the overall size of a hurricane, nor the horizontal distribution of the winds.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
Fresh ideas
- Bearing this in mind, meteorology professor Vasu Misra has developed a new metric to measure the destructive power of hurricanes.
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
TIKE
- It is known as Track Integrated Kinetic Energy (or TIKE) and is meant to complement, rather than replace, the Saffir-Simpson scale.
© Getty Images
17 / 31 Fotos
Relies on satellites
- The TIKE metric measures the size of the wind field, along with the intensity and overall lifespan of the storm. It relies on satellites rather than using reconnaissance aircraft.
© Getty Images
18 / 31 Fotos
Remaining challenges
- There are still significant challenges to overcome before scientists can rely on TIKE, however. For example, cloud cover during hurricanes can make it difficult to get accurate data.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
Location, location, location - Additionally, there are still large swathes of the world’s oceans for which satellite estimates are simply not available, due to the satellites’ locations.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
Going forward
- As a practical solution to the problem, some experts are calling for the introduction of a traffic light system to classify hurricanes.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
Basic concept
- The basic idea would be simply to rate the magnitude of risk for each hurricane on a color scale and issue a yellow, amber, or red alert.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
Inspired by UK Met Office
- It would be along the lines of the system that the UK Met Office currently uses for ordinary weather forecasts.
© Shutterstock
23 / 31 Fotos
Personalized approach
- The approach could be more personalized, with an app that provides people with information about the probability that various severe weather events will occur in their area.
© Shutterstock
24 / 31 Fotos
Helping people on the ground
- This would enable people to understand the personal level of risk to which they are exposed, and to take the necessary precautions.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
Adding a Category 6
- Given that hurricanes are also becoming more intense as ocean temperatures rise, some scientists have also made the case for adding a Category 6 to the existing Saffir-Simpson scale.
© Getty Images
26 / 31 Fotos
The rationale
- The rationale for this is that there have already been hurricanes that surpassed the theoretical threshold for Category 6, and there is no reason to cap it.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
Controversy
- This proposal has been met with resistance, however, since some fear that a new category could encourage people to dismiss Category 5 hurricanes, despite their potential to cause catastrophic damage.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
In conclusion
- We may be some way off an ideal solution when it comes to classifying hurricanes. What seems clear for the moment, however, is that the Saffir-Simpson scale cannot be considered the single source of truth.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
Access to information
- The public would likely benefit from more detailed information about each potential hurricane, particularly when it comes to surges and rainfall flooding. Sources: (BBC) (NOAA)
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
The problem with the way we measure hurricanes
Why the Saffir-Simpson scale is not sufficient
© Getty Images
When hurricane warnings are issued, experts usually refer to the category of the hurricane. A Category 1 hurricane is considered the least dangerous, and is characterized by having a sustained wind speed of 74-95 mph (119-153 km/h). A Category 5 hurricane is the most severe, with wind speeds of 157 mph (525 km/h) or higher. This way of categorizing hurricanes, which is known as the Saffir-Simpson scale, has been around for decades. But it is not without its flaws.
Indeed, there's a problem with the way we measure hurricanes. Check out this gallery to learn more.
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