Notable September Category 5 hurricanes

 

Hurricane Lee, Category 5  (Source: NOAA)

Hurricane Lee rapidly intensified into a powerful Category 5 hurricane on September 7 with peak sustained winds so far of 165 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 926 millibars.  Category 5 hurricanes feature sustained winds around the center of circulation – or the “eye” – of at least 157 mph.  Category 5 storms only form under the rarest of circumstances because they require ideal environmental and atmospheric conditions.  Here are some memorable September Category 5 Atlantic storms.

Hurricane Dorian (2019): Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas on September 1 as a Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 185 mph.  That tied it with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, which made landfall in the Florida Keys, as the most intense landfalling hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.  It was the most intense based on wind speed and not air pressure.  Dorian’s minimum central air pressure of 910 millibars (mb) was the ninth lowest on record.

Hurricane Rita (2005): Rita was the third of four Category 5 hurricanes that occurred during the record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.  It reached its peak intensity on September 21 while in the Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 895 mb.  Rita remains the fourth strongest Atlantic hurricane on record based on air pressure.  According to the National Hurricane Center, Rita weakened to Category 3 intensity with sustained winds of 120 mph before making landfall September 24 near the Louisiana and Texas state border.  Rita caused an estimated $28.3 billion worth of damages in 2023 dollars and ranks among the Top 15 costliest U.S. tropical cyclones, according to NOAA.

Hurricane Ivan (2004): Ivan was the strongest hurricane of a busier-than-average hurricane season.  It was a Category 5 storm that caused significant damage in Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and the Cayman Islands.  Air pressure is considered a more accurate measure of hurricane intensity than wind speed, and at peak intensity Hurricane Ivan’s lowest air pressure was 910 millibars.  Its highest sustained winds reached 165 mph.  Fortunately, Ivan weakened to Category 3 intensity before it made landfall in Alabama on September 16.  It caused nearly $33.0 billion in U.S. damages (2023 dollars), according to NOAA.

Isabel (2003): Isabel reached its peak intensity on September 11 while over the open Atlantic, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph and a minimum central air pressure of 915 millibars.  Isabel weakened to Category 2 status before its landfall in North Carolina on September 18.  Despite weakening, Isabel caused major flooding and damage across much of the Mid-Atlantic Region and northeastern United States, with an estimated cost of $9 billion (2023), according to NOAA.  In the D.C. Metro Region, Isabel caused approximately one million power outages.