Strongest Atlantic Hurricanes by Wind Speed
Key Findings
About This Dataset
Strongest Atlantic Hurricanes by Wind SpeedHurricane Allen (1980) and Hurricane Melissa (2025) share the Atlantic record in NOAA's HURDAT2 best-track database, both at a peak of 165 knots, about 190 mph. Four storms follow at 160 knots (185 mph): the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Gilbert (1988), Wilma (2005) and Dorian (2019). Mitch (1998), Rita (2005), Irma (2017) and Milton (2024) complete the top ten at 155 knots (180 mph), with Camille (1969) and Andrew (1992) among the storms just below at 150 knots. HURDAT2 records wind in steps of 5 knots, which is why so many storms tie; the mph figures here are those knot values converted and rounded to the nearest 5 mph. Peaks from before routine aircraft and satellite observation are estimates, and the database is revised when past seasons are reanalysed, so older entries can still move.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- NOAA National Hurricane Center, HURDAT2 Atlantic best-track database
- Coverage
- 10 entities · 10 observations
- Measure
- Peak Sustained Wind (mph)
- Last updated
- 14 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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