Game

Category Catcher

A Hurricane Hunter plane radios in the storm’s maximum sustained wind. Name the stage or category before the storm reaches the coast. Ten storms; the faster you are, the more you score.

The real scale

Maximum sustained wind (one-minute average). Categories 1–5: National Hurricane Center: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale Depression and storm: National Hurricane Center: Tropical cyclone climatology National Hurricane Center: Glossary
Stage	mph	km/h	knots	NHC damage words
Tropical depression	38 or less	62 or less	33 or less
Tropical storm	39–73	63–118	34–63	Gets a name
Category 1	74–95	119–153	64–82	Some damage
Category 2	96–110	154–177	83–95	Extensive damage
Category 3 (major)	111–129	178–208	96–112	Devastating damage
Category 4 (major)	130–156	209–251	113–136	Catastrophic damage
Category 5 (major)	157 or more	252 or more	137 or more	Catastrophic damage

The scale does not take into account other deadly hazards such as storm surge, rainfall flooding and tornadoes. National Hurricane Center: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale

The wind speeds in the game are made up each round; the category bands are the National Hurricane Center’s.