The Saffir-Simpson Scale. Keep it or change it?

The scale was developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Bob Simpson, director of the United States National Hurricane Center. The scale was introduced to the general public in 1973. The scale is comprise of 5 levels to determine the rating of a hurricane in the Western Hemisphere. The original use of scale is to record the wind speed of the hurricane in the Western Hemisphere. Lately this scale has not been doing a good job of classifying hurricanes that are affecting the United States. Scientists now say that it either needs to be changed or put a new system in place that can better depict the actual strength of a hurricane.

"(The Saffir-Simpson Scale) can survive, but it's probably not the most useful way to look at (a storm's) impacts," said Weather Channel Hurricane Specialist Dr. Greg Postel. "Certain aspects of the storm are worse than others ... wind impacts may be relatively small in a system where marine impacts -- waves, flooding and storm surge -- are large."

Scientists are looking for a new scale that can accurately depict the full strength of a hurricane instead of basing it off of just its wind speed. By getting a better idea of how truly strong a hurricane is it will allow people to better prepare and save more lives by getting real information out as soon as possible.

This image shows the five categories of the Saffir-Simpson Scale

More information found here: http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/hurricanes-scale-change-20121128