Hurricane Gilbert

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Hurricane Gilbert
Category 5 hurricane ( SSHWS )
Hurricane Gilbert near its greatest strength
Hurricane Gilbert near its greatest strength
Emergence September 8, 1988
resolution September 19, 1988
Peak wind
speed
185  mph (295  km / h ) (sustained for 1 minute)
Lowest air pressure 888  mbar ( hPa ; 26.2  inHg )
dead 433 total
Property damage $ 7.1 billion (1988)
Affected
areas
Windward Islands , Venezuela , Haiti , Dominican Republic , Jamaica , Central America , Yucatán , northern Mexico , Texas , southern central states
Season overview:
1988 Atlantic hurricane season
Path that Hurricane Gilbert took.

Hurricane Gilbert was one of the deadliest, costliest, and most powerful hurricanes since records began in the mid- 19th century . It wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in almost nine days during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season .

Gilbert emerged on September 8, 1988 as the twelfth tropical depression of the season near the Leeward Islands . Thanks to the warm Caribbean water (81 ° F / 27 ° C), Gilbert reached the strength of a tropical storm on September 9, making it the seventh named storm of the season. On September 10th, it quickly intensified into a "major hurricane" (from level 3). This is also the time when the Atlantic hurricane season usually peaks. Gilbert first landed on land in Jamaica through its west-northwest train path . The Eye of the Storm completely crossed Jamaica on September 12 with winds of 150 mph. The storm thus reached level 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale . It was the first hurricane to hit Jamaica directly since 1951.

After Gilbert had reached the open sea again, he strengthened enormously. He reached level 5 before moving over the island of Grand Cayman . Gilbert's extreme intensification continued until wind peaks of 295 km / h occurred. This is the third highest value ever measured. Only Hurricane Camille and Hurricane Allen achieved higher wind speeds. Gilbert also achieved a minimum core pressure of 888 ( hectopascals ), the second lowest value on record after Hurricane Wilma in the western hemisphere.

Gilbert hit land for the second time as a Category 5 hurricane in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula . This made it the first Level 5 storm since Hurricane Camille in 1969 to hit land directly. When it hit land near La Pesca , Tamaulipas , Mexico for the third time , it was still level 3. Gilbert produced 29 tornadoes on September 18 in Texas and caused flooding in the American Midwest . He lost his strength on September 19 in Texas for good. In Houston, NASA had to postpone the first space shuttle launch since the Challenger disaster . The start of the Discovery (flight STS-26) then took place on September 29, 1988.

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 US and 2 in Costa Rica and Nicaragua . Exact figures on the damage caused are not available, but the total damage in the affected countries is estimated at around 5 billion US dollars (in 1988 figures).

The name Gilbert was removed from the list of tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 1989 and replaced by Gordon in 1994 .

The most intense Atlantic hurricanes
(intensity is only judged by central air pressure)
rank hurricane season Min. Air pressure
hPa ( mbar )
1 Wilma 2005 882
2 Gilbert 1988 888
3 " Labor Day " 1935 892
4th Rita 2005 895
5 Everyone 1980 899
6th Camille 1969 900
7th Katrina 2005 902
8th Mitch 1998 905
dean 2007 905
10 Maria 2017 908
Source: HURDAT

Web links

See also

  1. ^ National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane best track (Hurdat) ( English ) Hurricane Research Division. Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research. April 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2018.