The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, so far, has had 13 named storms, six of which made landfall. This season has brought significant impacts and has broken records. One record in particular that was broken this season was Hurricane Beryl – the earliest Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic basin.

Hurricane Milton is a Category 5. With more intense storms becoming more frequent, do we need something higher than Category 5 to describe them?

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale was developed in 1971 and unveiled to the public in 1973. Here’s a look at the system that ranks tropical cyclones by their potential destructive power, how it works and the men who invented it. The scale rates the potential for damage from hurricanes based on the storm’s sustained wind speed.