Maximum sustained wind 50% of the geostrophic wind speed aloft; while over open water or ice, the reduction is between 10% and 30%. In most basins, maximum sustained winds are used to define their category. In the Atlantic and northeast Pacific oceans, the Saffir–Simpson scale is used. This scale can be used to determine possible storm surge and damage impact on land. In most basins, the category of the tropical cyclone (for example, tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane/typhoon, super typhoon, depression, deep depression, intense tropical cyclone) is determined from the cyclone's maximum sustained wind. Only in Australia is this quantity not used to
1887 Halloween tropical storm the storm was in Virginia. Cape Henry was hit with a combination of wind, rain, and blown sand on October 31 and communications between Cape Henry and Norfolk were lost. In Norfolk, the storm was the longest-lasting and most damaging since the Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879. The storm conditions made beaches in the area so hazardous that they were watched day and night. Effects from the storm reached as far north as Provincetown, Massachusetts, where winds of were recorded. Despite causing damage along the East Coast, the storm is best known for causing a record number of maritime incidents.