List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

A Category 5 Atlantic hurricane is a tropical cyclone that reaches Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, within the Atlantic Ocean to the north of the equator. They are among the strongest tropical cyclones that can form on Earth, having 1-minute sustained wind speeds of at least . The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) currently estimates that 11 tropical cyclones between 1851 (the first Atlantic hurricane season to be included in the official Atlantic tropical cyclone record) and 1959 peaked as Category 5 hurricanes. However, because technologies such as satellite monitoring were not available until the 1960s, some cyclones may have remained undetected. Since 1960, 33 Atlantic hurricanes have reached Category 5.

Background

Within the Atlantic Ocean to the north of the equator, hurricanes are officially monitored by the United States's National Hurricane Center (NHC), however, other meteorological services, such as Météo-France, the United Kingdom's Met Office and Environment Canada also monitor the basin. Within the region, a Category 5 hurricane is a tropical cyclone which reaches Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, that is, a tropical cyclone that has 1-minute mean maximum sustained wind speeds of or greater at above ground.

No Category 5 hurricanes were observed officially before 1924. It can be presumed that earlier storms reached Category 5 strength over open waters, but the strongest winds were not measured. Although the anemometer, a device used for measuring wind speed, was invented in 1846, during major hurricane strikes, the instruments were often blown away or damaged, leaving the hurricane's peak intensity unrecorded. For example, as the Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879 struck North Carolina, the anemometer cups were blown away when indicating .

, a reanalysis of weather data was ongoing by researchers who may upgrade or downgrade Atlantic hurricanes. For example, the 1825 Santa Ana hurricane is suspected to have reached Category 5 strength. Furthermore, paleotempestological research aims to identify past major hurricanes by comparing sedimentary evidence of recent and past hurricane strikes. For example, a "giant hurricane" significantly more powerful than Hurricane Hattie (Category 5) has been identified in Belizean sediment, having struck the region sometime before 1500.

Records

Officially, the decade with the most Category 5 hurricanes is the 2000s, with eight Category 5 hurricanes having occurred: Isabel (2003), Ivan (2004), Emily (2005), Katrina (2005), Rita (2005), Wilma (2005), Dean (2007), and Felix (2007). The previous decades with the most Category 5 hurricanes were the 1930s and 1960s, with six occurring between 1930 and 1939. The most Category 5 hurricanes recorded in a single season is four, in 2005, followed by 2025, which recorded three. No other seasons had more than two Category 5 hurricanes. The most consecutive years to feature at least one Category 5 hurricane each is four, both from 2016 to 2019 and from 2022 to 2025.

Ten Atlantic hurricanes—Camille, Allen, Andrew, Isabel, Ivan, Dean, Felix, Irma, Maria, and Milton—reached Category 5 intensity on more than one occasion; that is, by reaching Category 5 intensity, weakening to a Category 4 status or lower, and then becoming a Category 5 hurricane again. Camille, Andrew, Dean, Felix, Irma, and Maria each attained Category 5 status twice during their lifespans. Allen, Isabel, Ivan, and Milton reached Category 5 intensity on three occasions. The 1932 Cuba hurricane holds the record for the most time spent as a Category 5 hurricane (although it took place before satellite or aircraft reconnaissance, so this record may be somewhat suspect). Irma holds the record for the longest continuous span as a Category 5 storm in the satellite era.

Of the 44 Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes on record, 2 have been recorded in July, 8 in August, 25 in September, 8 in October, and 1 in November. There have been no officially recorded June or off-season Category 5 hurricanes.

July and August Category 5 hurricanes reached their high intensities in either the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, or the southwestern Atlantic.

September sees the most Category 5 hurricanes, with over half of the total. This coincides with the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which occurs in early September. September Category 5s reached their strengths in any of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and open Atlantic. These places are where September tropical cyclones are likely to form. Many of these hurricanes are either Cape Verde hurricanes, which develop their strength due to a long track over warm waters, or else intensify over the warm Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico.

All but two of the Category 5 hurricanes in October and November (the exceptions being Michael and Milton) reached their intensities in the western Caribbean, a region that Atlantic hurricanes strongly gravitate toward late in the season. This is due to the climatology of the area, which sometimes has a high-altitude anticyclone that promotes rapid intensification late in the season, as well as warm waters.

Systems NameCategory 5 intensityPeak intensityAreas affectedDamage(USD)DeathsDatesDuration Wind speed Pressure Central America, Mexico, CubaFlorida, The Bahamas Lesser Antilles, The BahamasUnited States East Coast, Atlantic Canada The Bahamas, Northeastern United States Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Cayman IslandsCuba, The Bahamas, Bermuda The Bahamas, Cuba, FloridaTexas, Tamaulipas Jamaica, Yucatán Peninsula The Bahamas, Florida, GeorgiaThe Carolinas, Virginia Eastern United States, Southwestern Quebec Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada Carol Bermuda, New England, Atlantic Canada Janet Lesser Antilles, Central America Esther East Coast of the United States Hattie Central America Inez Greater Antilles, Florida, Mexico Beulah The Caribbean, Mexico, Texas Camille Cuba, United States Gulf Coast Anita Mexico David The Caribbean, United States East coast Allen The Caribbean, Yucatán PeninsulaMexico, South Texas Gilbert Jamaica, Venezuela, Central AmericaHispaniola, Mexico Hugo The Caribbean, United States East Coast Andrew The Bahamas, Florida, United States Gulf Coast Mitch Central America, Yucatán Peninsula, South Florida Isabel Greater Antilles, BahamasEastern United States, Ontario Ivan The Caribbean, Venezuela, United States Gulf Coast Emily Windward Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Texas Katrina Bahamas, United States Gulf Coast Rita Cuba, United States Gulf Coast Wilma Greater Antilles, Central America, Mexico, Florida Dean The Caribbean, Central America Felix Nicaragua, Honduras Matthew Antilles, Venezuela, ColombiaUnited States East Coast, Atlantic Canada Irma Cape Verde, The Caribbean, Virgin IslandsCuba, Florida Maria Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, Puerto RicoDominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands Michael Central America, United States Gulf Coast Dorian The Caribbean, The Bahamas,United States East Coast, Atlantic Canada, Greenland Lorenzo Cabo Verde, Azores, Western Europe Ian Caribbean, Cuba, Florida, The Carolinas Lee Bermuda, New England, Atlantic Canada Beryl Caribbean, Puerto Rico, Yucatán Peninsula, Texas Milton Yucatán Peninsula, Florida, and The Bahamas Erin Cape Verde, Lesser Antillies Humberto Bermuda None Melissa Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Bermuda

Notes

Other systems The 1947 Fort Lauderdale hurricane and Hurricanes Dog (1950), Easy (1951), Cleo (1958), Donna (1960), Ethel (1960), Carla (1961) and Edith (1971) were all originally estimated to have Category 5 sustained wind speeds. However, later systematic studies by the Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project found that the wind speeds associated with these systems were overestimated and downgraded them to Category 4 (Category 3 in the case of Ethel). Separately, Hurricane Iota (2020) was operationally considered to be a Category 5 hurricane, with estimated 1-minute sustained wind speeds of . However, during their routine post-analysis best track process after the season (rather than the historical reanalysis project), the NHC downgraded Iota to a Category 4 hurricane after determining that there was a high bias in wind speeds derived from the Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer instrument.

Number by month

Landfalls

Nearly all Atlantic Category 5 hurricanes have made landfall at some location while a tropical or subtropical cyclone. This is primarily because of their proximity to land in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, where the usual synoptic weather patterns carry them towards land, as opposed to the westward, oceanic mean track of Eastern Pacific hurricanes. 19 of the storms made landfall at least once while at Category 5 intensity; 2007 and 2017 are the only years in which two storms made landfall at this intensity. All but six landfalling systems (the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, Carol, Esther, Mitch, Isabel, and Erin) did so at major hurricane strength.

Many of these systems made landfall shortly after weakening from a Category 5 hurricane. This weakening can be caused by dry air near land, shallower waters due to shelving, interaction with land, eyewall replacement cycles, increased vertical wind shear, or cooler waters near shore.

The only Atlantic Category 5 hurricanes that did not make landfall while a tropical or subtropical cyclone were Hurricane Lorenzo, which still brought hurricane-force winds to the Azores; Hurricane Lee, which still made landfall as an extratropical cyclone in Nova Scotia; and Hurricane Humberto, which still caused increased surf along the East Coast of the United States and minor impacts to Bermuda. These three storms are therefore not included in the table below.

The following table lists these hurricanes by landfall intensity.

Name Year 1924 Cuba Florida The Bahamas 1928 Puerto Rico Guadeloupe, Lucayan Archipelago, Florida South Carolina 1932 The Bahamas 1932 Little Cayman, Cuba The Bahamas Martinique 1933 The Bahamas Cuba, Texas 1933 Yucatán Peninsula Mainland Mexico 1935 Florida Keys Northwest Florida The Bahamas 1938 New York, Connecticut 1944 New York, Rhode Island Carol 1953 New Brunswick Janet 1955 Yucatán Peninsula Mainland Mexico Esther 1961 Massachusetts, Maine Hattie 1961 Belize Inez 1966 Dominican Republic Cuba, Haiti, mainland Mexico Cuba Beulah 1967 Mexico Camille 1969 Mississippi Cuba Anita 1977 Mainland Mexico David 1979 Dominican Republic Dominica Florida Cuba, The Bahamas, Georgia Allen 1980 Texas, Barbados Gilbert 1988 Quintana Roo Jamaica Tamaulipas Hugo 1989 Guadeloupe, Saint Croix, South Carolina Puerto Rico Andrew 1992 Eleuthera, Florida Berry Islands Louisiana Mitch 1998 Honduras Campeche, Florida Isabel 2003 North Carolina Ivan 2004 Alabama, Grenada Louisiana Emily 2005 Quintana Roo Tamaulipas Grenada Katrina 2005 Louisiana, Mississippi Florida Rita 2005 Louisiana Wilma 2005 Cozumel, Quintana Roo Florida Dean 2007 Quintana Roo Veracruz Felix 2007 Nicaragua Grenada Matthew 2016 Haiti, Cuba, Grand Bahama South Carolina Irma 2017 Barbuda, Saint Martin, Virgin Gorda, Cuba Little Inagua, Florida Keys Southwest Florida Maria 2017 Dominica Puerto Rico Michael 2018 Florida Dorian 2019 Abaco Islands, Grand Bahama (2×) North Carolina St. Thomas Saint Lucia, Barbados Ian 2022 Florida (2x) Cuba South Carolina Beryl 2024 Carriacou Quintana Roo, Texas Milton 2024 Florida Erin 2025 Cabo Verde Melissa 2025 Jamaica Cuba Long Island, Bahamas, San Salvador Island

List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes

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