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My son is in 2nd grade at Ensign elementry school and they are doing reports on the weather. His topic is Hurricanes. He is trying to find out what the fastest hurricane on record is and we are getting some conflicting answers. Can you help us?
Thanks so much,
Michelle G.
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Hurricanes are a great topic for youngsters to learn about the powers of the ocean and atmosphere together. You can find a fantastic FAQ page on hurricanes through the link on the right.
If you are talking about hurricanes we're dealing with Atlantic and Eastern Pacific storms. Typhoons and super typhoons have had stronger winds than some regular hurricanes. They are the same types of storms but form in different parts of the world.
The strongest wind speed for a hurricane appears to be Camille in 1969 and Allen in 1980. Both had wind speeds of 190 mph. Keep in mind some wind reports sometimes may not even get reported accurately since wind instruments can get destroyed when winds reach that speed.
Hurricane intensity records are determined by central pressure. So if you consider the most intense hurricane to be that with the lowest pressure then Hurricane Wilma with a central pressure of 882 mb in October 2005. This broke the record of Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Check out the list on the link on the right to the list of the lowest central pressure with hurricanes.
Best of luck with the project and reading up on hurricanes.
Answered by KSL Meteorologists Dina Freedman and Dan Pope.
