The Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1 and runs until November 30. On average, the Atlantic Basin experiences about seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes per year.

On the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a major hurricane means a Category 3 or higher. The scale includes five categories based on the storm’s sustained wind speeds. It also estimates the potential damage to property, ranging from “some damage” to “catastrophic.”

The highest is Category 5, meaning a storm with sustained winds of 155 mph or higher.

According to the National Hurricane Center, there have been an estimated 42 tropical cyclones that have reached Category 5 status in the Atlantic Basin since 1924 – the most recent of which Hurricane Miltonhurtling toward Florida’s Gulf Coast with winds of up to 175 miles per hour.

The total is likely higher because satellite monitoring technology was not available until the 1960s and cyclones that could have been a Category 5 storm may have gone undetected.

Several recorded Category 5 hurricanes reached that intensity several times in their lifetime. Hurricanes Allen in 1980, Isabel in 2003, and Ivan in 2004 each reached Category 5 intensity three times during their journey.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration database, the November 1932 Cuba Hurricane and 2007 Hurricane Irma spent the longest combined time at Category 5 magnitude, 78 and 77 hours respectively.

While several hurricanes that made landfall in the US peaked at Category 5, only four recorded storms actually did so at that intensity.

Hurricane on Labor Day 1935

Hurricane Great Labor Day tore through Florida in early September 1935, becoming the most intense storm ever to make landfall in the US, according to the hurricane center.

It caused the deaths of 408 people – most of them World War I veterans working in the Florida Keys, where the storm first made landfall.

According to NOAA, the storm caused damage estimated at $6 million ($137 million in 2024 dollars).

Hurricane Camille in 1969

Camille, the most intense storm of the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season, slammed into Mississippi just before midnight on August 17. The hurricane produced a peak storm surge of 25 feet and flattened nearly everything along the Mississippi coast.

It caused an estimated $1.42 billion in damage (over $12 billion in 2024) and killed more than 259 people.

Hurricane Andrew in 1992

On August 22, 1992 Hurricane Andreas South Florida was battered as a monster Category 5 storm, with sustained winds of up to 165 mph and gusts of up to 175 mph.

It caused $30 billion in damage and more than 40 deaths. At the time, it was the costliest natural disaster in US history.

When the 1992 hurricane season ended, the name Andrew was removed from the list of future names for Atlantic tropical cyclones.

Hurricane Michael in 2018

Hurricane Michael slammed into Mexico Beach, Florida, on October 10 with peak winds of 160 miles per hour – making it the strongest storm ever to make landfall in the Florida Panhandle. It was the first Category 5 storm to make landfall on the continental US since Andrew 26 years earlier.

The cyclone was initially measured as a Category 4 storm, but forecasters upgraded it in April 2019 after conducting a detailed post-storm analysis.

At least 74 deaths were attributed to the storm, including 59 in the US and 15 in Central America.

Michael caused an estimated $25.1 billion in damage.

Historic Category 5 storms

Here are the names of the estimated 42 tropical cyclones that have reached Category 5 intensity since 1924:

• “Cuba” – 1924
• “San Felipe II Okeechobee” – 1928
• “Bahamas” – 1932
• “Cuba” – 1932
• “Cuba-Brownsville” – 1933
• “Tampico” – 1933
• “Labor Day” – 1935
• “New England” – 1938
• “Great Atlantic” – 1944
• Carol – 1953
• Janet – 1955
• Esther – 1961
• Hattie – 1961
• Inez – 1966
• Beulah – 1967
• Camille – 1969
• Edith – 1971
• Anita – 1977
• David – 1979
• Allen – 1980
• Gilbert – 1988
• Hugo – 1989
• Andreas – 1992
• Mitch – 1998
• Isabel – 2003
• Ivan – 2004
• Emily – 2005
• Katrina – 2005
• Rita – 2005
• Wilma – 2005
• Dean – 2007
• Felix – 2007
• Matthew – 2016
• Irma-2017
• Maria-2017
• Michael – 2018
• Dorian – 2019
• Lorenzo – 2019
• Ian-2022
• Lee – 2023
• Beryl – 2024
• Milton-2024