ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The easiest and most straightforward way to measure a hurricane's strength is to use the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Hurricane forecasts are a lifesaving tool for coastal residents during the summer and autumn months. Vast storms swirling around the Atlantic Ocean can turn toward shore with high winds, dangerous ...

MIAMI -- The five-category system that describes a hurricane's strength and the havoc its winds could bring to the U.S. has been updated for the 2010 storm season. Gone from the Saffir-Simpson Hurr… ...

Since then, some hurricane scientists have proposed more complicated scales, based upon the overall energy of a hurricane and its destructive scale, to more accurately rate the threat of ...

The hurricane categories run from 1 to 5, with Category 5 hurricanes having wind speeds of 156 mph or stronger — enough to produce "catastrophic" damage.

The scale has been in use for decades and gives an idea about what kind of wind damage a hurricane can produce, but it says nothing about impacts from storm surge, flooding rain and tornadoes.

Researchers say five storms since 2013 had wind speeds that could categorize them as a Category 6 hurricane or cyclone — and that climate change will only make such intense storms more frequent.

Wind alone does not account for all hurricane-related fatalities. Storm surge and rainfall do as well. Yet the current ...

National Hurricane Center forecasters stopped talking Saffir-Simpson scale and official advisories no longer mentioned wind speeds in the headline.

Researchers say five storms since 2013 had wind speeds that could categorize them as a Category 6 hurricane or cyclone — and that climate change will only make such intense storms more frequent.