The strongest Atlantic hurricanes, by wind and by pressure
By peak wind, the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in NOAA's best track are Allen (1980) and Melissa (2025), both at 190 mph. By lowest central pressure the record holder is Wilma (2005) at 882 millibars. The two measures agree on many names but not on the order, and both lists lean heavily toward the last few decades.
Two ways to rank
Forecasters describe a hurricane's strength by its maximum sustained wind, which sets the Saffir-Simpson category. The best track stores that wind in steps of five knots, so ties are common at the top: 6 Atlantic storms reached 185 mph or more, and several more share 180 mph. Central pressure is the other classic yardstick. A lower pressure at the center usually means a stronger storm, and pressure is easier to measure accurately than wind, since an aircraft can drop an instrument into the eye.
The trouble with pressure is coverage. Only 1,277 of the 1,988 Atlantic storms in the file have any central pressure recorded, and before the 1970s values are scattered. A pressure ranking is therefore a ranking of storms someone managed to measure.
The top fifteen by wind
| Storm | Peak wind | Lowest pressure |
|---|---|---|
| Allen (1980) | 190 mph | 899 mb |
| Melissa (2025) | 190 mph | 892 mb |
| Storm 3 of 1935 | 185 mph | 892 mb |
| Gilbert (1988) | 185 mph | 888 mb |
| Wilma (2005) | 185 mph | 882 mb |
| Dorian (2019) | 185 mph | 910 mb |
| Mitch (1998) | 180 mph | 905 mb |
| Rita (2005) | 180 mph | 895 mb |
| Irma (2017) | 180 mph | 914 mb |
| Milton (2024) | 180 mph | 895 mb |
| Storm 14 of 1932 | 175 mph | 918 mb |
| Janet (1955) | 175 mph | 914 mb |
| Camille (1969) | 175 mph | 900 mb |
| Anita (1977) | 175 mph | 926 mb |
| David (1979) | 175 mph | 924 mb |
Of these fifteen, 9 peaked in 1980 or later. The oldest entries are Storm 3 of 1935, the storm that crossed the Florida Keys on Labor Day, and two others from the 1930s and 1950s. Wind estimates for those older storms rest on far fewer observations than the values for Milton (2024) or Melissa (2025), measured in the era of satellites and reconnaissance aircraft.
The top fifteen by pressure
| Storm | Lowest pressure | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|
| Wilma (2005) | 882 mb | 185 mph |
| Gilbert (1988) | 888 mb | 185 mph |
| Storm 3 of 1935 | 892 mb | 185 mph |
| Melissa (2025) | 892 mb | 190 mph |
| Rita (2005) | 895 mb | 180 mph |
| Milton (2024) | 895 mb | 180 mph |
| Allen (1980) | 899 mb | 190 mph |
| Camille (1969) | 900 mb | 175 mph |
| Katrina (2005) | 902 mb | 175 mph |
| Mitch (1998) | 905 mb | 180 mph |
| Dean (2007) | 905 mb | 175 mph |
| Maria (2017) | 908 mb | 175 mph |
| Storm 10 of 1924 | 910 mb | 165 mph |
| Ivan (2004) | 910 mb | 165 mph |
| Dorian (2019) | 910 mb | 185 mph |
Ten storms appear on both lists. Wilma (2005) leads on pressure and ties for third on wind; Gilbert (1988), second on pressure at 888 mb, also ties for third on wind. Katrina (2005) sits ninth on pressure at 902 mb, while its peak of 175 mph is shared by 10 Atlantic storms, so on wind it is one of a crowd. Pressure and wind are linked, but not tightly: at the same pressure, recorded peak winds can differ by 20 mph or more.
Strongest at landfall
A ranking by landfall wind gives a different list again, because a storm's peak and its moment of crossing the coast rarely coincide. Three Atlantic storms share the strongest landfall wind in the file, 185 mph: Dorian (2019), Melissa (2025) and Storm 3 of 1935 (1935). The table keeps each storm's strongest landfall once.
| Storm | Landfall | Date | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storm 3 of 1935 | Florida | September 3, 1935 | 185 mph |
| Dorian (2019) | Bahamas | September 1, 2019 | 185 mph |
| Melissa (2025) | Jamaica | October 28, 2025 | 185 mph |
| Irma (2017) | Antigua and Barbuda | September 6, 2017 | 180 mph |
| Janet (1955) | Quintana Roo | September 28, 1955 | 175 mph |
| Camille (1969) | Mississippi | August 18, 1969 | 175 mph |
| Dean (2007) | Quintana Roo | August 21, 2007 | 175 mph |
| Andrew (1992) | Florida | August 24, 1992 | 165 mph |
| Maria (2017) | Dominica | September 19, 2017 | 165 mph |
| Inez (1966) | Dominican Republic | September 29, 1966 | 160 mph |
One famous name is missing for a reason in the file, not in the weather. Allen (1980), the top storm by peak wind, falls in the 1976–1982 seasons, for which HURDAT2 carries no landfall records at all, so its crossing of the Texas coast does not appear in any landfall count on this site.
Against the Pacific
The strongest storm in either file is in the eastern Pacific. Patricia (2015) reached 215 mph and 872 mb in 2015, beyond any Atlantic value on both counts. No other Pacific storm comes within 25 mph of it. The Pacific Category 5 page lists the rest.
Lowest pressure, decade by decade
Taking the lowest central pressure in each decade from the 1920s shows how the record has moved. Readings below 900 mb appear in 4 decades: the 1930s, the 1980s, the 2000s and the 2020s. In the 1980s two storms went below that mark, Allen (1980) at 899 mb and Gilbert (1988) at 888 mb.
| Decade | Storm | Lowest pressure |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | Storm 10 of 1924 | 910 mb |
| 1930s | Storm 3 of 1935 | 892 mb |
| 1940s | Storm 7 of 1944 | 918 mb |
| 1950s | Janet (1955) | 914 mb |
| 1960s | Camille (1969) | 900 mb |
| 1970s | David (1979) | 924 mb |
| 1980s | Gilbert (1988) | 888 mb |
| 1990s | Mitch (1998) | 905 mb |
| 2000s | Wilma (2005) | 882 mb |
| 2010s | Maria (2017) | 908 mb |
| 2020s | Melissa (2025) | 892 mb |
How ties work
Because the file stores wind in five-knot steps, the top of the list is a ladder of shared values. At the top, two storms peaked at 190 mph. Next come four storms at 185 mph. Next come four storms at 180 mph. Next come ten storms at 175 mph. Next come seven storms at 165 mph. Next come 17 storms at 160 mph. A rank on a storm page counts ties together, so a storm at 175 mph is "tied for 11th".
What a peak value means
A peak is one six-hourly value, or an extra record added at the moment of peak intensity. It says how strong the storm became at its height, not how strong it was when it reached land. Wilma (2005) came ashore in Mexico and Florida well below its peak; Storm 3 of 1935 reached the Keys at its peak wind. Each storm page shows the full intensity trace, and the storm finder gives the strength each storm had when it passed closest to a chosen town.
Sources
NOAA National Hurricane Center, HURDAT2 Atlantic 1851–2025 and Northeast and North Central Pacific 1949–2025. Landsea, C. W. and J. L. Franklin, 2013, Monthly Weather Review 141, 3576–3592. Counts, ranks and totals worked out on this site; see how to read the record.