Strongest Atlantic Hurricanes

The strength of tropical storms and hurricanes are usually characterized in terms of wind speed and barometric pressure. The Saffir-Simpson Scale categorizes these storms by those two characteristics. Below are the strongest Atlantic Hurricanes on record in terms of maximum sustained winds and barometric pressure.

Hurricane Sandy (Superstorm Sandy) was the strongest hurricane to impact Greg’s Weather Center in South Plainfield, NJ with a barometric pressure of 942 millibars, or 27.81 inches.

Strongest Hurricanes – Maximum Sustained Winds

Storm	Year	Area Affected	Max Sustained Winds in mph
Hurricane Allen	1980	South Texas	190
Labor Day Hurricane	1935	Florida Keys	185
Hurricane Gilbert	1988	Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Yucatan Peninsula, and Northern Mexico	185
Hurricane Dorian	2019	Bahamas	185
Hurricane Wilma	2005	Yucatan Peninsula and South Florida	185
Hurricane Mitch	1998	Honduras and Nicaragua	180
Hurricane Rita	2005	Louisiana	180
Hurricane Irma	2017	South Florida and the Bahamas	180
Hurricane Milton	2024	Florida	180
Hurricane Camille	1969	Mississippi	175

Table 1: Strongest Atlantic Hurricanes – Maximum Sustained Winds

Data is courtesy of Wikipedia.

Strongest Hurricanes – Barometric Pressure

Storm	Year	Area Affected	Pressure in millibars
Hurricane Wilma	2005	Yucatan Peninsula and South Florida	882
Hurricane Gilbert	1988	Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Yucatan Peninsula, and Northern Mexico	888
Labor Day Hurricane	1935	Florida Keys	892
Hurricane Rita	2005	Louisiana	895
Hurricane Milton	2024	Florida	897
Hurricane Allen	1980	South Texas	899
Hurricane Camille	1969	Mississippi	900
Hurricane Katrina	2005	Louisiana and Mississippi	902
Hurricane Mitch	1998	Honduras and Nicaragua	905
Hurricane Dean	2007	Belize	905

Table 2: Strongest Atlantic Hurricanes – Barometric Pressure

Data courtesy of The Weather Channel