New Category 6 for Hurricanes Likely Around the Corner for New England

Hurricanes are becoming increasingly stronger, so much so that there's a good chance a new category will enter the line-up. While the Atlantic Hurricane season tends to hit the most in the southwestern part of the eastern seaboard, New England has experienced plenty of devastation.

Whether the hurricanes are direct hits or damaging remnants, from Cape Cod to the Connecticut coastline to Maine, we experience the season.

According to the Guardian, scientists are proposing a Category 6 to classify what they're calling 'mega-hurricanes.'

Since 2014, we've had five storms that would have been classed as Category 6 strength if the category had existed.

According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, these mega-hurricanes are likely to increase in number in the coming years due to global warming, which is also warming our oceans and atmosphere.

Global warming has increased the energy available for tropical cyclone intensification through increases in latent and sensible heat fluxes from warmer ocean temperatures As a result, storm intensities well above the category-5 threshold are being realized and record wind speeds will likely continue to be broken as the planet continues to warm.

As a reminder, the following are the current categories and wind speeds for the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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Category 1 Hurricane

Winds 74-95mph.

Very strong winds are expected to cause some damage.

Category 2 Hurricane

Winds 96-110mph.

Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage.

Category 3 Hurricane

Winds 111-129mph.

Devastating damage will occur.

Category 4 Hurricane

Winds 130-156mph.

Catastrophic damage will occur.

Category 5 Hurricane

Winds 157mph or higher.

Catastrophic damage will occur.

With the addition of a Category 6 Hurricane, Cat 5 winds would change from 157 mph or higher to 157mph to 191mph.

A Cat 6 would have sustained winds of 192 mph or higher.

There haven’t been any in the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico yet but they have conditions conducive to a category 6, it’s just luck that there hasn’t been one yet. I hope it won’t happen, but it’s just a roll of the dice. We know that these storms have already gotten more intense, and will continue to do so.

There is no word yet on when this classification change will happen.