By Paul Homewood
We are now getting more information in on Hurricane Helene, which has widely been reported as “one of the most powerful” to hit the US.
For instance, Sky:
There is absolutely no evidence to support this claim at all. It is based on the myth that Helene had winds of 140mph, but as we have already seen, satellite data only supports speeds of 130mph.
http://rammb-data.cira.colostate.edu/tc_realtime/storm.asp?storm_identifier=al092024
And even that figure is overstated according to the Digital Dvorak data. Warning intensities always tend to get exaggerated on the basis of “better safe than sorry”.
The photos from Sky also show that claims of a Cat 4 storm are nonsense. You can see them all here, but this selection tells the story.
The first couple show little damage to homes, the telegraph poles are still standing and even the trees are still intact.
The third shows part of the canopy gone, but the rest intact. The final two picture a few small trees down, but most still standing.
Then we have some from the BBC. The first is Tarpon Springs. The second is Cedar Keys, close to where landfall took place; this damage was caused by tidal surge, not winds. The third shows a partially damaged mobile home, which would not have withstood a Cat 4 storm at all:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwylvy7enrgo
None of this damage is consistent with a Cat 4, which would be expected to totally destroy doors and windows, and mobile homes.
Even a Cat 3 should have brought down large trees, but there is little evidence of this either, just a few smaller trees blown down.
At most, based on satellite data, Helene was a Cat 3.
There have been 98 Cat 3 hurricanes and above , which have hit the US since 1851, so there is frankly nothing unusual at about Helene at all.