After the series of powerful storm systems of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as after Hurricane Patricia, a few newspaper columnists and scientists brought up the suggestion of introducing Category 6, and they have suggested pegging Category 6 to storms with winds greater than . Fresh calls were made for consideration of the issue after Hurricane Irma in 2017, which was the subject of a number of seemingly credible false news reports as a "Category 6" storm, partly in consequence of so many local politicians using the term. Only a few storms of this intensity have been recorded. Of the 37 hurricanes currently considered to have attained Category 5 status in the Atlantic, 18 had wind speeds at or greater and only eight had wind speeds at or greater (the 1935 Labor Day hurricane, Allen, Gilbert, Mitch, Rita, Wilma, Irma, and Dorian). Of the 18 hurricanes currently considered to have attained Category 5 status in the eastern Pacific, only five had wind speeds at or greater (Patsy, John, Linda, Rick, and Patricia), and only three had wind speeds at or greater (Linda, Rick, and Patricia). Most storms which would be eligible for this category were typhoons in the western Pacific, most notably typhoons Tip, Halong, and Surigae in 1979, 2019, and 2021, respectively, each with sustained winds of , and typhoons Haiyan, Meranti, and Goni in 2013, 2016 and 2020, respectively, each with sustained winds of . Occasionally, suggestions of using even higher wind speeds as the cutoff have been made. In a newspaper article published in November 2018, NOAA research scientist Jim Kossin said that the potential for more intense hurricanes was increasing as the climate warmed, and suggested that Category 6 would begin at , with a further hypothetical Category 7 beginning at .