**Hurricane Kristy Reaches Category 5, Third of the Season**

Hurricane Kristy intensified to a Category 5 hurricane on October 24, marking the third storm to achieve such strength in the Atlantic Basin this season. This event follows the earlier escalations of Hurricanes Beryl and Milton. In 2023, similarly, three hurricanes reached Category 5 status, including the devastating Otis that struck Mexico.

Kristy, luckily, maintained its distance from populated areas. Positioned around 1,000 miles southwest of Los Cabos, Mexico, it achieved Category 5 status briefly before its winds decreased to Category 4 a mere six hours later. Without the necessity for a Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance mission, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Kristy based on satellite imagery.

Category 5 hurricanes are categorized by maximum sustained winds of at least 157 mph, posing severe risks of catastrophic wind damage. Kristy is not the sole Category 5 occurrence this year. Earlier this month, Hurricane Milton surged to Category 5 over the Gulf of Mexico on October 7, and then re-strengthened after an eyewall replacement cycle the following day. Hurricane Beryl became the earliest recorded Category 5 hurricane in Atlantic Basin history on July 1, wreaking havoc on the southern Windward Islands.

The pattern of intense storms continued from the previous year, with 2023 seeing three Category 5 hurricanes as well. Hurricane Otis notably intensified unexpectedly before making a destructive landfall in Acapulco, Mexico, on October 5.

Over the past century, 42 Atlantic Basin Category 5 hurricanes have been documented, with 14 occurring in the Eastern Pacific since the 1970s. Although the average frequency is one such hurricane every 2 to 3 years in the Atlantic and every 3 to 4 years in the Eastern Pacific, periods of both heightened activity and relative calm have been observed. From 2016 through 2024, the Atlantic witnessed ten Category 5 hurricanes, contrasting with the quieter stretch from 2007 to 2016.

Despite their ferocity, not all Category 5 hurricanes make landfall. Of the 19 Atlantic Cat. 5 hurricanes that did make landfall, four struck the mainland United States, with notable storms such as Hurricane Michael in 2018 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The Bahamas and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula have also faced their share of these powerful storms.

Patricia, the strongest recorded Western Hemisphere hurricane of 2015, made landfall in Mexico, albeit not at Category 5 intensity. Otis remains the only Category 5 to make landfall in the Eastern Pacific Basin.

This succession of powerful storms underscores the increasing need for vigilance and preparedness as extreme weather patterns continue to emerge globally.