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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

With news of hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic making their way to North America, it is a great time to write about the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

The scale is based on the wind speed of the hurricane at the given time. The scale is broken down below. A general rule of thumb is that each additional level on the scale will do four times more damage.

Level

Wind Speed (Miles Per Hour)

Storm Surge (Feet)

Tropical Depression

Up to 38

0

Tropical Storm

39-73

Up to 3 feet

1

74-95

4-5

2

96-110

6-8

3

111-130

9-12

4

131-155

13-18

5

Anything past 156

Anything past 19



Fox News provides a great graphical depiction of the damage each level can do.

2 comments:

torgo jr. said...

this post blows:)

torgo jr. said...

OK, I'll call myself out on that one....that was a pretty lame joke.