Also, it’s interesting to note that the Atlantic may actually hold the record for strongest tropical cyclone ever. During the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, a man with 5 witnesses to back him up claimed that his barometer bottomed out at 26.00 inches of mercury before he discarded it because holding onto it was beginning to infringe on his safety given the conditions around him.
If that barometer was correct, the Labor Day Hurricane may very well be stronger than any Pacific typhoon. Three hours before, the barometer had been falling at 1/100 inch every 5 minutes. The eye would not come ashore for another hour after the 26.00 reading was observed. At the same rate of fall, one could conservatively estimate that the pressure hit 25.88 inches. However, the rate of fall increases as you get closer to the center of the storm, so it could easily have been considerably lower. It wouldn’t have taken much to top the 25.69 in Typhoon Tip. (All of this assuming the barometer was right)
I have no idea why the <26.00 reading is not accepted and the higher pressure of 26.35 inches is used instead. Perhaps meteorologists at the time felt 26.00 was too low to be possible and therefore surmised that either the barometer was not functioning or the guy was making up the story.
(If anyone has also heard about this and knows exactly why this reading is not accepted, please tell me)