Milton threatens to reach max limits, sparking calls for a new Category 6 designation for hurricanes
By Patrick Reilly
Published Oct. 8, 2024, 7:33 a.m. ET
Hurricane Milton is threatening to reach known maximum limits with wind gusts already topping 200 miles per hour — leading to calls for a new Category 6 designation for such a historic superstorm.
“This is nothing short of astronomical,” Florida meteorologist Noah Bergren said late Monday as Milton reached sustained winds of 180 mph and “gusts 200+ mph.”
“I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe to you the storm’s small eye and intensity,” he marveled.
“This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.”
After being a monster Category 5 storm for much of Monday, Milton was downgraded early Tuesday to a Category 4 with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph — just two mph below a Category 5 — but is expected to increase again as it churns towards Florida’s gulf coast, where it is expected to have a devastating impact.
After forming in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton rapidly accelerated from a tropical storm with 60-mph winds Sunday morning to a deadly, 180-mph, Category 5 hurricane by Monday — an incredible trebling of power in only 36 hours.
If the hurricane reaches winds of 192 mph, it will surpass a rare threshold that just five storms have reached since 1980, USA Today reported.
Its exceptional intensity has prompted calls from some meteorologists to expand the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to include a new sixth category for hurricanes.
While no such official category exists, professor Michael E. Mann tweeted that “Milton might have actually breached the 192 mph ‘cat 6′ cutoff.”
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https://nypost.com/2024/10/08/us-news/milton-reaching-max-limits-leads-to-calls-for-a-new-category-6-designation-for-hurricanes/
