Hurricane Severity Index
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The Hurricane Severity Index (or HSI) measures the strength and destructive capability of a storm based on its size and wind intensity.[1][2] The HSI attempts to demonstrate that two hurricanes of similar intensity may have different destructive capability due to variances in size, and furthermore that a less intense, but very large hurricane, may in fact be more destructive than a smaller, more intense hurricane.[citation needed] It is very similar to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Hurricane Index,[citation needed] which also factors both size and intensity of a hurricane.[3] HSI was developed by a private company program in competition with the National Weather Service's accumulated cyclone energy index.[citation needed]
HSI was developed by ImpactWeather (now StormGeo) meteorologists as a proprietary method of hurricane severity classification.[4]
HSI misclassifies hurricanes in some cases because it does not account for rainfall.[5]
HSI is based on a lookup table rather than an equation.[2] It does not take into account the translational speed of the storm.[2]
Components of the index
[edit]
The Hurricane Severity Index is a 50-point scale, with wind intensity and size contributing equally.
Determining size points
[edit]| Wind Radii | Size Point Range |
|---|---|
| 35 kn | 1–3 |
| 50 kn | 1–4 |
| 65 kn | 1–8 |
| 87 kn | 1–10 |
See also
[edit]
- Beaufort scale
- Fujita scale
- Outline of tropical cyclones
- Severe weather terminology (disambiguation)
References
[edit]- ^ Chris Hebert (ImpactWeather Inc.), B. Weinzapfel, and M. Chambers (1 May 2008). "The Hurricane Severity Index – A destructive potential rating system for tropical cyclones". 28th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology. American Meteorological Society. Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Collins, Jennifer M.; Walsh, Kevin (2019-02-15). Hurricane Risk. Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-02402-4.
- ^ "CME Hurricane Index Futures and Options" (PDF). CME Group. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
- ^ "How to Estimate a Hurricane's Damage Potential". StormGeo. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ Rezapour, Mehdi; Baldock, Tom E. (2014-12-01). "Classification of Hurricane Hazards: The Importance of Rainfall". Weather and Forecasting. 29 (6): 1319–1331. Bibcode:2014WtFor..29.1319R. doi:10.1175/WAF-D-14-00014.1 (inactive 2 December 2024). ISSN 1520-0434.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link) - ^ "ImpactWeather" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
External links
[edit]- Hebert, Chris, Bob Weinzapfel and Mark Chambers. “Hurricane Severity Index: A New Way of Estimating a Tropical Cyclone’s Destructive Potential”. 29th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, 10–14 May 2010, Tucson, Arizona. American Meteorological Society. http://ams.confex.com/ams/29Hurricanes/techprogram/paper_168529.htm