FLHurricane.com: Strongest Hurricane

I don't mean to start an argument, but Mitch wasn't a CAT 5 at landfall. When the centre of Mitch moved ashore it was a 50kt tropical storm:-

ZCZC MIATCDAT3 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
TROPICAL STORM MITCH DISCUSSION NUMBER 33
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
4 PM EST THU OCT 29 1998

THE HURRICANE HUNTERS AND SATELLITE ANALYSTS INDICATE THAT THE
CENTER OF MITCH IS NOW OVER LAND...HAVING DRIFTED SOUTHWARD TODAY.
HIGHEST 850 MB FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS WERE 57 KT. STEADY WINDS OF
50 KT WERE REPORTED A FEW HOURS AGO FROM TRUJILLO HONDURAS BY THE
METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE OF HONDURAS. MITCH IS DOWNGRADED TO A
TROPICAL STORM WITH 50 KT WINDS.

Mitch actually lost CAT 5 status about 2 days prior to landfall:-

INITIAL 22/0300Z 12.8N 77.9W 30 KTS

INITIAL 22/0900Z 12.7N 78.5W 30 KTS

INITIAL 22/1500Z 12.0N 78.0W 30 KTS

INITIAL 22/2100Z 11.5N 77.6W 40 KTS

INITIAL 23/0300Z 12.3N 77.6W 45 KTS

INITIAL 23/0900Z 13.0N 77.5W 50 KTS

INITIAL 23/1500Z 12.7N 77.9W 50 KTS

INITIAL 23/2100Z 13.0N 78.1W 50 KTS

INITIAL 24/0300Z 13.5N 78.2W 50 KTS

INITIAL 24/0900Z 14.3N 77.7W 80 KTS

INITIAL 24/1500Z 14.9N 77.9W 85 KTS

INITIAL 24/2100Z 15.3N 78.2W 90 KTS

INITIAL 25/0300Z 15.7N 78.4W 105 KTS

INITIAL 25/0900Z 16.0N 79.2W 110 KTS

INITIAL 25/1200Z 16.2N 79.5W 110 KTS

INITIAL 25/1500Z 16.3N 79.8W 115 KTS

INITIAL 25/2100Z 16.6N 80.7W 130 KTS

INITIAL 26/0300Z 16.4N 81.7W 130 KTS

INITIAL 26/0900Z 16.5N 82.3W 130 KTS

INITIAL 26/1500Z 16.7N 82.9W 135 KTS

INITIAL 26/2100Z 17.2N 83.6W 155 KTS

INITIAL 27/0300Z 17.4N 84.1W 155 KTS

INITIAL 27/0900Z 17.4N 84.8W 155 KTS

INITIAL 27/1500Z 17.3N 85.0W 145 KTS

INITIAL 27/2100Z 16.8N 85.8W 135 KTS

INITIAL 28/0300Z 16.5N 85.6W 120 KTS

INITIAL 28/0900Z 16.3N 85.6W 115 KTS

INITIAL 28/1500Z 16.4N 85.6W 105 KTS

INITIAL 28/2100Z 16.4N 85.9W 100 KTS

INITIAL 29/0300Z 16.3N 86.0W 85 KTS

INITIAL 29/0900Z 16.0N 85.9W 75 KTS

INITIAL 29/1500Z 16.0N 85.6W 65 KTS

INITIAL 29/2100Z 15.9N 85.8W 50 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 30/0300Z 15.5N 85.5W 45 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 30/0900Z 15.4N 86.1W 35 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 30/1500Z 15.3N 86.2W 35 KTS

INITIAL 30/2100Z 15.1N 86.8W 50 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 31/0300Z 14.4N 87.3W 45 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 31/0900Z 14.2N 87.9W 35 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 31/1500Z 14.5N 88.7W 30 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 31/2100Z 14.5N 89.9W 30 KTS

INITIAL 01/0300Z 14.6N 90.5W 30 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 01/0900Z 15.0N 91.4W 30 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 01/1500Z 14.9N 91.6W 25 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 01/2100Z 15.0N 92.3W 25 KTS...DISSIPATING

INITIAL 03/2100Z 19.4N 91.3W 40 KTS

INITIAL 04/0300Z 20.2N 90.2W 35 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 04/0900Z 20.8N 89.4W 30 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 04/1500Z 21.8N 88.3W 40 KTS

INITIAL 04/2100Z 23.5N 85.8W 40 KTS

INITIAL 05/0300Z 25.3N 84.0W 45 KTS

INITIAL 05/0900Z 25.7N 82.3W 45 KTS

INITIAL 05/1500Z 27.1N 80.2W 55 KTS...INLAND

INITIAL 05/2100Z 28.2N 76.9W 50 KTS...EXTRATROPICAL

While Mitch was a CAT 5 at peak intensity (ranked at the 4th most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin), it was a shadow of its former self at landfall - the damage was caused by the phenomenal amount of rain it brought with it.

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