How strong can a hurricane become? According to the Saffir-Simpson Scale, hurricanes can reach up to the Level 5 storm category. On paper, there is no such thing as a storm that reaches Level 6 or higher. Once it reaches Level 5, it does not matter what people call it, the storm can be described as something really really bad.
However, the level of strength the hurricane Dorian comes with puts it in a whole new level. It is now considered as the strongest hurricane to ever hit the Northwestern part of the Bahamas. With sustained winds of 285 km/hr (180 mph), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported on September 1 at around 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The eye of this Category 5 storm was moving at 330 km East of the West Palm Beach in Florida and 30 kilometers East of Great Abaco Island. The storm is moving towards the at about 11 km/hr. This slow speed only makes it worse. It means that has enough time to dump huge amounts of rain and maximum sustained winds along its path.
The NHC predicts that the core of this superstorm will continue to move its way up to the Great Abaco Island and then move over the Grand Bahama Island late in the day on September 2. This storm has been considered extremely dangerous with the amount of rainfall and sustained winds that it brings with it. This monstrous storm is expected to move closer to the coast of Florida.
"The hurricane conditions in the Abacos Islands are about to get worse. It will only spread across the Great Bahama Island later today or tonight," according to the update released by the NHC at 11 a.m. "Dorian is truly a giant storm and as it moves farther in its path, it only grows bigger." At the moment, the force winds of this hurricane extends up to 75 km (45 miles) from its core.
When and where Dorian will make a landfall as it enters the US territories remains to be a question. The forecasts show varying possibilities from Florida or up north to the Carolinas, as released in the CNN Report.
If Dorian does make a landfall in the US as a category 5 storm, it wold make it one of the rare ones. The last storm that hit the US under that category was named Michael. It hit the areas between Tyndall Air Force base in Florida and the coast of Mexico Beach in October of 2018.
A hurricane warning has been released and the residents in the affected area should be on the watch and prepared.
