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Numbered intensity scales that differ between ocean basins.
Also known as: Saffir-Simpson scale, Hurricane category
A tropical cyclone's category number comes from a scale that differs by basin: the Saffir-Simpson scale in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, separate scales in Australia, the north-west Pacific and the Indian Ocean. A category three storm is not the same thing in two of them.
Rate tropical cyclone intensity on numbered scales tied to wind speed, applied within a defined ocean basin.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps
Differ between basins in both their thresholds and their averaging periods, so a category number cannot be compared across basins without conversion.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps
A printed numeral beside a spiral storm symbol on a chart or bulletin.
The symbol marks the storm; the number rates it.