No hurricane has ever struck the US coast while being that strong, but Reuters is wrong: Storms that strong have been seen in the Atlantic. This year. Hurricane Katrina had winds of 175 MPH, also, and was not the record holder.
They specifically say that strength here is measured by atmospheric pressure, not wind speed.
Strongest storm on record per the National Hurricane Center. Its based off of pressure readings, NOT windspeed. At a pressure of 882 millibars, Wilma beats previous record holder Gilbert which had a pressure reading of 888.
That might be, but such records have only been available for a relatively short time, climatologically speaking, and that low pressure doesn't come close to the Pacific record of about 870 millibars.
Actually, we simply have no record of such a massive hurricane. Since accurate measurements are a young capability, is it reasonable to assume that we are witnessing the most violent hurricanes of all time?