Is a Category 6 Hurricane Possible?

Brian Donegan
Published: July 27,2016

Hurricane Patricia at 5:20 a.m. EDT on Oct. 23, 2015, as seen by NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite using infrared light. Cloud top temperatures of thunderstorms around the eyewall were between -135.7 degrees Fahrenheit and -117.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
(NASA/NOAA)

A recent article by weather blogger Nick Szankovics got the weather community thinking: Could there be a Category 6 hurricane?
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale currently runs from Category 1 through Category 5, but Category 5 is classified as 157-plus mph. But how far above 157 mph could the winds go while still being considered Category 5 wind speeds?
Last year, Hurricane Patricia reached maximum sustained winds of 215 mph in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, based on those 1-minute maximum sustained surface winds on Oct. 23, 2015.
(MORE: A Streak Not Seen Since 1900)
The storm set records for maximum strength, rate of intensification and rate of weakening. It recorded the second-lowest minimum central pressure ever, bottoming out at 872 millibars, just shy of Typhoon Tip in 1979, which reached 870 millibars.

On Oct. 23, 2005, the GOES spacecraft captured this image of both Hurricane Wilma and Tropical Storm Alpha.
(NASA/NOAA)

While not quite as strong as Patricia, Hurricane Wilma in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico in October 2005 reached maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. The storm's central pressure dropped to 882 millibars, a record low in the Atlantic Basin.
(MORE: The Record-Breaking 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season)
Hurricanes Patricia and Wilma featured winds well above the 157-mph criteria of a Category 5 hurricane. But should either of those storms have been considered a Category 6?
The only way that is possible is if the National Hurricane Center (NHC) decides in the future to adjust its Saffir-Simpson Scale.
(MORE: Does the Saffir-Simpson Scale Need an Improvement?)