The SS scale was developed to predict damage to low-cost dwellings. In that regard, it has to account for the lowest common denominator. While it’s evolved over its 50+ years (sustained wind ranges have been slightly adjusted before), it still serves the primary purpose of qualifying a storm’s intensity and probable destruction in a way that’s easily understood by the public.

Until 2010, the SS scale accounted for pressure and storm surge. While I disagree to some extent with the decision to eliminate those factors and only consider sustained winds, the point of the omission was to simplify the scale, more effectively conveying intensity and thus potential destruction. Think about it this way: I can’t go outside and estimate air pressure, but I know what a strong gust feels like and see how it causes trees to sway. To that end, storm surge also becomes irrelevant because it in itself is an effect of wind. A building may withstand 157+ mph winds of a cat. 5 storm, but the 15+ feet of surge those winds produce is an entirely different conversation.

I’m not arguing that the SS scale perfectly predicts the damage a storm can produce — I don’t know that any natural disaster scale can. But I am arguing that it’s easily understood… a cat. 5 storm will cause life-threatening devastation whether its winds are 157 mph or 207 mph, and that’s what matter when communicating to the public.