On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:30:31 -0700, Keith
wrote:

Chuck, were they actually 5's when they hit? Usually they peter out
when the hit the shallower water near shore. Even Katrina was a 3 when
she finally hit. Maybe lack of good weather equipment in those
regions?

I wasn't going to post anything on this, but there has been some
research on historical records that seem to indicate that there may
have been more Cat 5 storms than they previously thought.

The more they model historical paths and do some historical research,
there is more and more possibility that they were just as numerous in
the past.

The problem is lack of instrumentation in those times - a lot is
anecdotal. We know a lot about modern storms if only because of the
innovations in the last 30 years or so, hurricane hunters and
dropsondes.

There is some talk of revamping the scale by adding two more
categories to narrow the ranges.

Eh - who knows.