Hurricane Gilbert

Hurricane Gilbert

Category 5 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS)
Hurricane Gilbert at peak intensity on September 13 east of the Yucatan Peninsula
Formed	September 8, 1988
Dissipated	September 19, 1988
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 185 mph (295 km/h)
Lowest pressure	888 mbar (hPa); 26.22 inHg (Second-lowest recorded in the Atlantic)
Fatalities	318 total
Damage	$7.1 billion (1988 USD)
Areas affected	Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Central America, Mexico, Texas, South Central United States, Midwestern United States, Western Canada
Part of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricane Gilbert was an extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and brought widespread destruction to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It was the most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin, until Hurricane Wilma surpassed it during 2005. Gilbert was also one of the largest tropical cyclones ever observed in the Atlantic basin. At one point, its tropical storm-force winds measured 575 mi (925 km) in diameter. In addition, Gilbert was the most intense tropical cyclone in recorded history to strike Mexico.

The seventh named storm and third hurricane of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season, Gilbert developed from a tropical wave on September 8 while located 400 mi (640 km) east of Barbados. Following intensification into a tropical storm the next day, Gilbert steadily strengthened as it tracked west-northwestward into the Caribbean Sea. On September 10, Gilbert attained hurricane intensity, and rapidly intensified into a Category 3 hurricane on September 11. After striking Jamaica the following day, rapid intensification occurred once again, and the storm became a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale late on September 13. Gilbert then weakened slightly, and made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula later that day while maintaining Category 5 intensity. After landfall, Gilbert weakened rapidly over the Yucatán Peninsula, and emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 storm on September 15. Gradual intensification occurred as Gilbert tracked across the Gulf of Mexico, and the storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in mainland Mexico on September 16. The hurricane gradually weakened after landfall, and eventually dissipated on September 19 over the Midwestern United States.