List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

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A Category 5 hurricane, on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, is the most catastrophic hurricane that can form. They are rare in the Atlantic Ocean and occur about once every three years. Only three times (1960, 1961 and 2005) have there been multiple Category 5 hurricanes formed in the same season. Only once has the number of Category 5 hurricanes exceeded two in the same season (2005).

A hurricane of this magnitude has winds of 156 mph (251 km/h) or greater.

Between 1928 and 2005, only 28 hurricanes have reached and were recorded as a Category 5. There are no known Category 5 storms occurring before 1928.

In all, eleven Category 5 hurricanes made landfall at that intensity, of which only three (1935 Labor Day hurricane, Camille, Andrew) made landfall in the United States at Category 5. In addition, only three other Category 5 hurricanes (Dog, Easy and Cleo) never made any landfalls at any intensity.

List of Category 5 Hurricanes

Name Min. pressure Max. Sustained wind Date attained Landfall (Category 5) Landfall (TS to Cat 4)
Okeechobee Hurricane 929 mbar 160 mph September 13, 1928 Puerto Rico Bahamas & Florida (Cat 4)
Not Named unknown† 160 mph‡ September 5, 1932 Bahamas  
Labor Day Hurricane 892 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 3, 1935 Florida Keys Bahamas (Cat 1)
New England Hurricane of 1938 938 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 19, 1938   New York & Connecticut (Cat 3)
Fort Lauderdale Hurricane 947 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 16, 1947 Bahamas Florida (Cat 4), Louisiana (Cat 1)
Dog unknown† 185 mph‡ September 6, 1950    
Easy unknown† 160 mph‡ September 7, 1951    
Janet 914 mbar 175 mph‡ September 28, 1955 Mexico  
Cleo 948 mbar† 160 mph‡ August 16, 1958    
Donna 932 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 4, 1960   Bahamas & Florida (Cat 4), North Carolina, New York & Connecticut (Cat 2)
Ethel 981 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 15, 1960   Mississippi (TS)
Carla 932 mbar† 175 mph‡ September 11, 1961   Texas (Cat 4)
Hattie 920 mbar† 160 mph‡ October 30, 1961   Belize (Cat 4)
Beulah 923 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 20, 1967   Mexico & Texas (Cat 4)
Camille 905 mbar 190 mph‡ August 17, 1969 Mississippi Cuba (Cat 4)
Edith 943 mbar† 160 mph‡ September 9, 1971 Nicaragua Belize (TS), Louisiana (Cat 2)
Anita 926 mbar† 175 mph‡ September 2, 1977 Mexico  
David 924 mbar 175 mph‡ August 30, 1979 Hispaniola Dominica, Cuba, Bahamas & Georgia (Cat 1), Florida (Cat 2)
Allen 899 mbar 190 mph‡ August 7, 1980   Texas (Cat 3)
Gilbert 888 mbar 185 mph‡ September 14, 1988 Mexico Jamaica (Cat 4)
Hugo 918 mbar 160 mph‡ September 15, 1989   Puerto Rico & South Carolina (Cat 4)
Andrew 922 mbar 170 mph‡ August 23, 1992 Florida Louisiana (Cat 3)
Mitch 905 mbar 180 mph October 26, 1998   Honduras (Cat 4), Mexico & Florida (TS)
Isabel 915 mbar 165 mph September 11, 2003   North Carolina (Cat 2)
Ivan 910 mbar 165 mph September 9, 2004   Grenada & Alabama (Cat 3)
Katrina 902 mbar 175 mph August 28, 2005   Florida (Cat 1), Louisiana (Cat 4), Mississippi (Cat 3)
Rita 897 mbar 175 mph September 21, 2005   Louisiana (Cat 3)
Wilma 882 mbar 175 mph October 19, 2005   Mexico (Cat 4), Florida (Cat 3)
  • Date Attained is the date when the storm first achieved Category 5 status. (Several of these storms reached Category 5 more than once)
  • Landfall is the place the storm struck land at Category 5 status. (Note that the storm may have affected other land masses at a different category.)
  • † Pressure readings for older storms are reliable but incomplete, especially for storms that did not threaten land. The listed pressure is likely not the lowest pressure achieved by the hurricane.
  • ‡ Wind readings for storms prior to the mid-1990s are not reliable because it was impossible to measure surface wind speed before dropsondes came into use. Some wind readings may have been updated after re-analysis in the late 1990s.
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