Can Hurricane Milton Reach ‘Category 6’ Level? Here’s Why It's Not Possible

Mar. 15, 2025

A satellite image of Hurricane Milton.Photo:Goes-East/Noaa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Goes-East/Noaa/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Do all the shifts inHurricane Milton’s classification mean it can potentially become a Category 6 storm?

The intensity of the storm has changed a number of time in the last 24 hours, with Milton intensifying to aCategory 4on the morning of Monday, Oct. 7, before being upgraded to aCategory 5a few hours later.

As of the early hours on Tuesday, Oct. 8, the hurricane has beendowngradedback to a Category 4 as it is currently sits 520 miles southwest of Tampa, Fla., with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.

The shifts in the wind speed of Milton, which comes days afterHurricane Heleneand is expected to make landfall in Florida for Wednesday evening, Oct. 9, has some wondering whether the storm could potentially reach historic levels.

However, a Category 6 hurricane is impossible becausethere is no such designation for one, as the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale only consists of five hurricane categories based on sustained wind speed.

Here is a breakdown for each of the categories, according to theNational Weather Service.

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Thus, any hurricane whose sustained winds measure over 157 mph will just be designated as a Category 5.

In the case of Milton, should its winds go past 192 mph, it would join five other hurricanes and typhoons in that unique distinction, said climate scientist Michael Wehner and retired federal scientist Jim Kossin,USA Todayreported.  According to theAssociated Press, those five storms occurred between 2013 and 2020 in the Pacific.

When it comes to the open-endedness of the Category 5 designation, Kossin said, perUSA Today, “That’s becoming more and more inadequate with time because climate change is creating more and more of these unprecedented intensities.” And Wehner told the AP that “climate change is making the worst storms worse.”

However, some experts told the AP they believe that having another category is not necessary, and that the real danger linked to hurricanes is the water compared to wind speed.

Meanwhile, according to theNational Hurricane Center’s advisoryas of 10 a.m. CDT on Oct. 8, the center of Milton is forecasted to move across the eastern Gulf of Mexico and reach the west-central coast of Florida through Oct. 9.

The center added that the storm is poised to make landfall along the west-central coast of Florida that Wednesday evening.

source: people.com