Hurricane Scale Tweaked

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, which has been a mainstay in hurricane preparedness since being introduced in 1973 to the public, has been tweaked over the past year to account for discrepancies in realized storm surge flooding from hurricanes impacting the coast. The new name is the "Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale," which emphasizes a focus on wind as the categorizing feature instead of also being tied to expected storm surge. However, forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center for approaching hurricanes will still include mention of expected surges in the affected regions, which vary depending on a combination of factors: "the storm's intensity, size, motion and barometric pressure, as well as the depth of near-shore waters and local topographical features." (NOAA press release Feb 17, 2010). You can read a detailed explanation of the new scale here.