Hurricane Severity Index

The Hurricane Severity Index (or HSI) measures the strength and destructive capability of a storm based on its size and wind intensity.[1] The HSI attempts to demonstrate that two hurricanes of similar intensity may have different destructive capability due to variances in size, and furthermore that a less intense, but very large hurricane, may in fact be more destructive than a smaller, more intense hurricane. It is very similar to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Hurricane Index, which also factors both size and intensity of a hurricane.[2] HSI was developed by a private company program in competition with the National Weather Service's accumulated cyclone energy index.

## Contents

* 1 Components of the index
* 1.1 Determining size points
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Components of the index

Visual comparison of Hurricane Floyd with Hurricane Andrew while at similar positions and nearly identical intensities. Floyd was, however, 3–4 times larger and posed a much greater threat.

The Hurricane Severity Index is a 50-point scale, with wind intensity and size contributing equally.

### Determining size points

HSI Size Points[3]
A total of 25 size points is possible. Wind Radii  | Size Point Range

|

35 kn  | 1–3
50 kn  | 1–4
65 kn  | 1–8
87 kn  | 1–10

## See also

* Beaufort scale
* Fujita scale
* Outline of tropical cyclones
* Severe weather terminology (disambiguation)

## References

1. ↑ Chris Hebert (ImpactWeather Inc.), B. Weinzapfel, and M. Chambers (1 May 2008). "The Hurricane Severity Index – A destructive potential rating system for tropical cyclones". 28th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology. American Meteorological Society. http://ams.confex.com/ams/28Hurricanes/techprogram/paper_139371.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
2. ↑ "CME Hurricane Index Futures and Options". CME Group. https://www.cmegroup.com/trading/weather/files/WT106_NEWHurricaneFC.pdf.
3. ↑ "ImpactWeather". http://katrina.impactweather.com/hsi/hsi.pdf.

## External links

* Hebert, Chris, Bob Weinzapfel and Mark Chambers. “Hurricane Severity Index: A New Way of Estimating a Tropical Cyclone’s Destructive Potential”. 29th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology, 10–14 May 2010, Tucson, Arizona. American Meteorological Society. http://ams.confex.com/ams/29Hurricanes/techprogram/paper_168529.htm

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