The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. Hurricanes are rated on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which includes five categories based on the storm’s sustained wind speeds. It also estimates possible damage to property, ranging from “some damage” to “catastrophic.”
The highest is Category 5, which is marked by a storm that has sustained wind speed of 158 mph or higher for at least one minute.
According to the National Hurricane Center, there have been an estimated 42 tropical cyclones that have reached Category 5 status in the Atlantic Basin since 1924, the most recent being Hurricane Milton, which is churning toward Florida’s Gulf Coast as a powerful storm.
This number is likely higher because satellite monitoring technology was not available until the 1960s and cyclones that could have been a Category 5 storm may have remained undetected.
Several recorded Category 5 hurricanes reached that intensity multiple times during their lifetime. Hurricanes Allen (1980), Isabel (2003) and Ivan (2004) each soared to Category 5 intensity three separate times in their journeys.
Meanwhile, the November 1932 Cuba hurricane and Hurricane Irma in 2007 spent the longest combined time at Category 5 strength at 78 and 77 hours, respectively, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s database.
While multiple hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. peaked at Category 5, only four storms on record have done so at that intensity.
1935 Labor Day Hurricane
The Great Labor Day Hurricane road through Florida in early September 1935 becoming what the hurricane center says is the most intense storm ever to make landfall in the U.S.
It caused the deaths of 408 people – most of them World War I veterans working in the Florida Keys where the storm made its first landfall.
According to NOAA, the storm caused damages estimated at $6 million ($137 million in 2024).
Hurricane Camille in 1969
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The most intense storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, Camille slammed into Mississippi just before midnight on Aug. 17. The hurricane produced a peak storm surge of 24 feet and flattened nearly everything along the Mississippi coast.
It caused an estimated $1.42 billion in damages (more than $12 billion in 2024) and killed more than 259 people.
Hurricane Andrew in 1992
On Aug. 22, 1992, Hurricane Andrew pummeled southern Florida as a monster Category 5 storm with sustained wind speeds as high as 165 mph and gusts as high as 174 mph.
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It caused $30 billion in damage and more than 40 deaths. It was the costliest natural disaster in the history of the U.S. at the time.
When the 1992 hurricane season ended, the name Andrew was removed from the list of future names for Atlantic tropical cyclones.
Hurricane Michael in 2018
Hurricane Michael barreled into Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 10 with peak winds of 160 mph – making it the strongest storm on record to make landfall in the Florida Panhandle. It was the first Category 5 storm to make landfall on mainland U.S. since Andrew 26 years earlier.
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The cyclone was initially measured as a Category 4 storm, but forecasters upgraded it in April 2019 after conducting a detailed post-storm analysis.
At least 74 deaths were attributed to the storm – including 59 in the U.S. and 15 in Central America.
Michael caused an estimated $25.1 billion in damages.
Historic Category 5 storms
Here are the names of the estimated 42 tropical cyclones that have reached Category 5 intensity since 1924:
- “Cuba” – 1924
- “San Felipe II Okeechobee” – 1928
- “Bahamas” – 1932
- “Cuba” – 1932
- “Cuba-Brownsville” – 1933
- “Tampico” – 1933
- “Labor Day” – 1935
- “New England” – 1938
- “Great Atlantic” – 1944
- Carol – 1953
- Janet – 1955
- Esther – 1961
- Hattie – 1961
- Inez – 1966
- Beulah – 1967
- Camille – 1969
- Edith – 1971
- Anita – 1977
- David – 1979
- Allen – 1980
- Gilbert – 1988
- Hugo – 1989
- Andrew – 1992
- Mitch – 1998
- Isabel – 2003
- Ivan – 2004
- Emily – 2005
- Katrina – 2005
- Rita – 2005
- Wilma – 2005
- Dean – 2007
- Felix – 2007
- Matthew – 2016
- Irma – 2017
- Maria – 2017
- Michael – 2018
- Dorian – 2019
- Lorenzo – 2019
- Ian – 2022
- Lee – 2023
- Beryl – 2024
- Milton – 2024
