Post Reply - Climate

   https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ or https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ ;CATEGORY 5 BERYL STILL INTENSIFYING IN THE SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN... ...EXPECTED TO BRING LIFE-THREATENING WINDS AND STORM SURGE TO JAMAICA LATER THIS WEEK...

DJ, The "good news" is "Beryl" may take away much of the strength of another storm behind it...https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/storminfo/#96L or https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/storminfo/#96L "Debby" may have to wait...

Beryl is the strongest hurricane this early in a year...

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2322597121 or https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2322597121 ;
For a number of years, I have argued that we are now, thanks to the effects of human-caused warming, experiencing a new class of monster storms—”category 6” hurricanes. That is to say, we are witnessing hurricanes that—by any logical extension of the existing Saffir-Simpson scale—deserve to be placed in a whole separate, more destructive category from the traditionally defined (category 5) “strongest” storms. 

Up until now, that was really just a matter of opinion (1). There was no peer-reviewed research to justify the assertion. Now there is, with a new article by Wehner and Kossin in PNAS (2) that lays out a rigorous, objective case for expanding the scale to accommodate climate change-fueled tropical cyclones that are qualitatively stronger and more destructive than conventionally defined category 5 storms.
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Extrapolating the existing Saffir–Simpson scale, Wehner and Kossin argue that a storm with sustained winds exceeding 86 m/s/192 mph sustained winds, with substantially greater destructive potential than a conventionally defined category 5 storm, should be defined as a whole new category: category 6. A “cat 6” hurricane, in fact, is hardly just a hypothetical or theoretical construct. The authors note that five storms, all of which have occurred during the past decade—and some of which have proven catastrophic in their impacts—have exceeded that threshold. They include the eastern Pacific hurricane Patricia with its 216 mph peak winds, which made landfall in Jalisco Mexico in October 2015, and four typhoons in the western Pacific (Surigae, 196 mph, which tracked out at sea east of the Philippines in April 2021; Goni, 196 mph, which made landfall in the Philippines in November 2020; Meranti, 195 mph, which impacted Taiwan and the Philippines, landfalling in eastern China in September 2016; Haiyan, 195 mph, with its deadly and devastating landfall in the Philippines in November 2013).

DJ, there are discussions on a cat7 definition for hurricanes https://hypotheticalhurricanes.fandom.com/wiki/Category_7 or https://hypotheticalhurricanes.fandom.com/wiki/Category_7 ;
A Category 7 is a hypothetical rating beyond the maximum rating of Category 5. A storm of this magnitude would most likely have winds between 215 and 245 mph, with a minimum pressure between 820-845 millibars. The storm could likely have a large wind field and a small eye. Maximum wave heights from a Category 7 hurricane may be as high as 65 feet. These storms are extremely dangerous and deadly.

DJ, It is not only about the strength...also the numbers matter...If Florida would end up with five hurricanes each year it may "not be the best place to be/desinvest !"...

Like pandemics climate collapse is dealing with political "saving the economy" stupidity...Climate collapse = pandemics !