TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Hurricane Dorian's history of strengthening continued Sunday morning as the storm reached Category 5 intensity. Some are wondering if the storm will continue gaining momentum, even reaching a category 6 storm.

In a word, no.

There is no higher measure, even though Dorian has already become the strongest hurricane in modern records for the Northern Bahamas packing winds of 180 mph. It is in contention for becoming one of the strongest storms of all time.

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is how the National Hurricane Center measures the intensity of hurricanes. The scale breaks down hurricane categories based on the 1-minute sustained winds recorded in connection with the storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

A Category 1 hurricane, for instance, displays wind speeds between 74 to 95 mph. Conversely, a Category 5 hurricane has reached 157 mph or higher.

Because of this cutoff, a Category 6 hurricane doesn't currently exist. So rest assured, while Hurricane Dorian may continue to grow in intensity, it will remain a Category 5 until it begins to weaken.

Hurricane Dorian is still a strong storm

Even though there is no Category 6, Dorian is threatening to shatter long-held records.

Forecasters say Dorian is now tied for 8th highest sustained winds in the Atlantic ever. And it's still strengthening.

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In a series of tweets, Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane expert and meteorologist at Colorado State University, demonstrated how dangerous Dorian is:

Since 1950, only 3 Atlantic hurricanes have had max winds stronger than Hurricane Dorian's current max winds of 180 mph: Allen (1980): Max winds of 190 mph Gilbert (1988): Max winds of 185 mph Wilma (2005): Max winds of 185 mph.

"Only one hurricane has made continental US landfall with winds this strong: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (185 mph max winds)."

"Only two hurricanes have made continental US landfall with a lower pressure than Hurricane Dorian's current pressure of 913 hPa. Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 (892 hPa) and Camille of 1969 (900 hPa)."

"Dorian now has the strongest winds (180 mph) for a hurricane this far north (26.5°N) in the Atlantic east of Florida on record."

"The strongest hurricane landfalls in the Atlantic basin not in the continental US since 1985 are 180 mph landfalls by Hurricane Irma in 2017 on Barbuda, St. Martin and the British Virgin Islands. Unfortunately, it looks like Hurricane Dorian may join that infamous list shortly."

#HurricaneDorian is the 27th Atlantic #hurricane to reach #Category5 since 1950. Here's a table of the other 26 Atlantic Category 5 hurricanes with their lifetime maximum intensities. pic.twitter.com/22HqqBrY0n — Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 1, 2019

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