: Actually, the reverse is probably true.  The wind readings are always estimates, because it's just impossible to know what the wind really is at any given point in the hurricane at any given time.  Since most of the data comes from NOAA, and NOAA uses imperial mmeasurements, I would defer to the 160 mph as being the "precise" reading, and the 257 being the converted reading (in which case, someone needs to learn significant digits).