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Saffir-Simpson hurricane intensity scale with Florida examples. By comparison Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was a Category 4 storm. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (SSHS), or the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS), classifies hurricanes, Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms, into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. To be classified as a hurricane, a tropical cyclone must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph. The highest classification in the scale, Category 5, is reserved for storms with winds exceeding 155 mph. The classifications provide information for the potential damage and flooding a hurricane will cause upon landfall. Officially, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is used only to describe hurricanes forming in the Atlantic Ocean and northern Pacific Ocean east of the International Date Line. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE SOURCE/Science Source)