Hurricane Irma (2017) — DPS 88/100

Peak Category 5 · Atlantic

88/100

Destructive Power Score

Catastrophic

Hurricane Irma (2017) scored 88/100 on the Destructive Power Score scale — a Catastrophic event.

Saffir-Simpson rated this a Category 5 based on peak wind alone. DPS combines intensity with storm size, surge potential, duration of coastal exposure, and geographic reach for a fuller picture of destructive potential.

Landfall: Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico / USVI, Cuba / Jamaica, SW Florida, FL Big Bend (5 landfalls).

Peak Winds

178 mph · 155 kt

Min Pressure

914 mb

Peak IKE

226.6 TJ

Basin

Atlantic

DPS Rating

Catastrophic

Explore the full interactive analysis below — wind field, track, score components, and side-by-side comparisons. How DPS works.

Computing Destructive Power Score...

○Fetching storm track data

○Computing wind energy (IKE)

○Calculating DPS, IAS, ERS scores

○Rendering map and charts

DESTRUCTIVE POWER SCOREDPS?

Hover bar for details

Impact Area?

Hover bar for details

Economic Risk?

Hover bar for details

Storm Timeline Speed: --

Click a point to sync the map ↑

One number. Total threat.

See any hurricane's Destructive Power Score — a 0-100 number that captures what the Category scale misses: size, surge, duration, and geographic reach.

Try a famous storm

Or type any storm name in the search bar. During hurricane season, active storms appear automatically in the sidebar.

© 2025–2026 StormDPS. Data is aggregated from public sources (NOAA, NHC). Experimental & Educational Only: This platform provides AI-enhanced visualizations for informational purposes; it does not produce official forecasts. StormDPS is not liable for any actions taken based on this data. Life-Safety Decisions: Always defer to the National Hurricane Center and local emergency management for official warnings and evacuation orders. All content is provided “as-is” and “where-is” without warranty.

Media inquiries, partnerships, or data licensing: contact reavesrg@gmail.com. About the project · Methodology · Historic storms · Open dataset · FAQ · Privacy.

The Saffir-Simpson scale only measures peak wind speed at the center. It ignores the storm's size, which is often the biggest factor in damage. Hurricane Ike (2008) made landfall as "only" a Cat 2, but its enormous wind field caused catastrophic damage across the entire Texas coast.

DPS captures what the Category scale misses: size, surge, duration of coastal exposure, and geographic breadth.

IKE (TJ) — Integrated Kinetic Energy in Terajoules. Total wind energy accounting for both speed and storm size.
mph — Miles per hour (wind speed).
mb / hPa — Millibars, a pressure unit. Lower = stronger storm. Normal sea-level is ~1013 mb.
kt — Knots (1 kt = 1.15 mph). Used for storm movement speed.

Hurricane Irma (2017) — DPS 88/100

One number. Total threat.

How to Use StormDPS

Getting Started

What the Scores Mean