Hurricane Michael upgraded to category 5

[JeremyS]

Didn't know if I should post this here or in the tropical forums, but here's the story:

Scientists now say Hurricane Michael was a Category 5 storm at the time of US landfall - CNN

Hurricane Michael, which barreled into the Florida Panhandle in October, was actually a Category 5 storm when it hit the coast, scientists at the National Hurricane Center said Friday.

www.cnn.com

 

[Dan Robinson]

140kt at landfall in the final assessment.

NOAA press release::

Hurricane Michael upgraded to a Category 5 at time of U.S. landfall

Post-storm analysis estimates sustained winds of 160 mph

www.noaa.gov

Full report:

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL142018_Michael.pdf

 

[Steve Miller]

It absolutely should not take 6 months for a storm to be upgraded. This puts insurers in a bind (not that anyone probably cares about insurers), but it also changes the FEMA level of response immediately following the storm as well as long-term support funding. This feels political.

 

[Andy Wehrle]

I think it's more a matter of the operational intensity is based on the available data at the time. After the fact, they have more time to look over everything (SFMR, radar, chaser measurements, etc) more thoroughly.

Six months seems about average for TCRs on major systems with high impacts. I'm sure the government shutdown didn't help.

135kt Cat 4 or 140kt Cat 5, either way, a lot of destruction is done and a lot of insurers are paying out.

 

[rdale]

It absolutely should not take 6 months for a storm to be upgraded.

That seems pretty reasonable - especially as Andy noted with the shutdown. The last thing we want is NHC making a decision a week later and then data coming out of the following months showing they were wrong.

This puts insurers in a bind (not that anyone probably cares about insurers), but it also changes the FEMA level of response immediately following the storm as well as long-term support funding. This feels political.

I can't speak for insurers - but will speak for FEMA - as the category has zero impact on the level of response. Can you clarify how insurance companies were hit because of this?

 

[cdcollura]

Normally most "post analysis" is done in late April (around the 20th). Hurricane Andrew had a similar upgrade as well, years after the fact. It is what it is...