AccuWeather says it has created its own hurricane scale, but why?

Enlarge / Barry Lee Myers (R) sits with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) (L), during his Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing to lead NOAA in 2017. (credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
For the last decade, and since Hurricane Ike delivered a devastating storm surge into the greater Houston region, hurricane forecasters have wrung their hands about the efficacy of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. Ike was designated a 'Category 2' storm on the scale, which rates storms from 1 to 5. Categories 3, 4, and 5 are designated 'major' hurricanes.
Because Ike was not a 'major' hurricane, not everyone took the storm seriously. Eventually, after much debate, hurricane scientists decided that the Saffir-Simpson scale should only reference wind speed (and no longer storm surge), and that the National Hurricane Center would de-emphasize its use in its forecast products and instead focus on the threats posed by any given storm—be it damaging winds, storm surge, or inland flooding from heavy rainfall.
The Saffir-Simpson scale was retained, however, because most Americans were familiar with it, and it remained a useful tool to very generally identify the threat level of any given storm. This was a compromise. Issuing warnings for hurricanes is a messy business, not least because the forecasts can and often do change, and because emergency managers desire a simple and clear message they can deliver to residents and business owners.
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