Hurricane Gilbert
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
 Hurricane Gilbert near maximum intensity. |
|
| Duration | Sept. 8 - 19, 1988 |
| Highest winds | 185 mph (295 km/h) sustained |
| Damages | $7-9 billion (2005 dollars) |
| Fatalities | 318 direct |
| Areas affected | Windward Islands, Venezuela, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Central America, Yucatan Peninsula, northern Mexico, Texas, South Central United States |
| Part of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Gilbert is the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic Basin. It wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico for nearly 9 days during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season. It killed 318 people and caused many billions of dollars in damages over the course of its path.
Contents |
Storm history
Gilbert formed on September 8, 1988 as the 12th tropical depression of the season near the Windward Islands. While feeding off the warm waters (81°F/27°C) of the Caribbean, Gilbert quickly strengthened to tropical storm status on September 9 and became the seventh named storm of the season. It strengthened even more and became a major hurricane on September 10, which is also the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Its west-northwesterly movement brought Gilbert to first make landfall in Jamaica. The eyewall crossed completely over Jamaica on September 12 with 150 mph (240 km/h) winds, putting it at category four on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was the first hurricane to make direct landfall in Jamaica since 1951.
Gilbert moved off the coast of Jamaica only to strengthen rapidly. The hurricane reached the lower edge of category five while slamming into Grand Cayman.
Gilbert's extreme intensification continued until it reached its peak winds of 295 km/h (185 mph). Gilbert reached a minimum pressure of 888 mbar (hPa), which was the lowest pressure ever recorded in the history of the western hemisphere and made Gilbert the most intense Atlantic Ocean hurricane on record, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Wilma with 882 mbar in 2005. (Although hurricanes Camille and Allen recorded maximum sustained winds in excess of 185 mph, hurricane intensity is measured in terms of pressure.)
Gilbert made landfall for a second time in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on September 14, as a category five hurricane, making it the first category five hurricane to make landfall since Camille 19 years earlier in 1969. Major hurricane status was held as the storm made landfall for a third time near La Pesca, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on September 16. Gilbert spawned 29 tornadoes in Texas on September 18 and caused flooding in the midwest. Gilbert lost its strength when it merged with a frontal boundary in Texas on September 19.
Impact
Gilbert claimed 318 lives: 202 in Mexico, 45 in Jamaica, 30 in Haiti, 12 in Guatemala, 5 in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, 3 in the United States, and 2 in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Exact monetary damage figures are not available, but the total for all areas affected by Gilbert is estimated to be near $5 billion (1988 USD).
The name Gilbert was retired in the spring of 1989, and was replaced by Gordon in the 1994 season.
American journalist Jules Siegel was living in Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo., Mexico, near Cancun with his family. The hurricane hit Puerto Morelos dead-on, but the entire town population was evacuated to Cancun. Siegel's account of this experience was published in a local newspaper in Spanish and is available in English on his website.
| Top ten most intense Atlantic hurricanes since measurements began Hurricane intensity is measured solely by central pressure; source: NOAA |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Atlantic | Landfall U.S. | ||||||
| Rank | Hurricane | Year | Minimum pressure recorded mbar (hPa) |
Rank | Hurricane | Year | Minimum pressure at landfall mbar (hPa) |
| 1 | Wilma | 2005 | 882 | 1 | Labor Day | 1935 | 892 |
| 2 | Gilbert | 1988 | 888 | 2 | Camille | 1969 | 909 |
| 3 | Labor Day | 1935 | 892 | 3 | Katrina | 2005 | 918 |
| 4 | Rita | 2005 | 897 | 4 | Andrew | 1992 | 922 |
| 5 | Allen | 1980 | 899 | 5 | Indianola | 1886 | 925 |
| 6 | Katrina | 2005 | 902 | 6 | Florida Keys | 1919 | 927 |
| 7 | Camille | 1969 | 905 | 7 | Okeechobee | 1928 | 929 |
| 8 | Mitch | 1998 | 905 | 8 | Donna | 1960 | 930 |
| 9 | Ivan | 2004 | 910 | 9 | New Orleans | 1915 | 931 |
| 10 | Janet | 1955 | 914 | 10 | Carla | 1961 | 931 |
| Based on data from: The Weather Channel | Based on data from: U.S. National Hurricane Center | ||||||
