Wilma and Tip

Hurricane Wilma and Typhoon Tip rank as the most intense historical storms torage over their respective ocean basins. Both were, at their greatest strength,exceptionally strong Category 5 storms wielding winds of incredible speed. Andboth storms vented the worst of their fury during the middle of October.Trackers of hurricanes will recall 2005 and Hurricane Wilma, which "pinhole"eye, the smallest known for an Atlantic hurricane, was the site of a sea-levelpressure that bottomed at 882 millibars, or 26.05 inches of mercury. Therecord-setting low pressure was reached over the northwestern Caribbean Seabetween Honduras and western Cuba. At about this time, highest sustained windsreached 185 mph.

As for Typhoon Tip, the year was 1979 and the place was the tropical westernNorth Pacific Ocean near the Mariana Islands. Hard to be more specific, for Tiphas the notoriety of being the biggest known typhoon, nearly 1400 miles acrossat its widest. This mighty powerhouse of a storm set a low sea-level pressurerecord at 870 millibars, or 25.69 inches of mercury. Winds about the eye of Tiprose as high as 190 sustained mph.