Hurricane Gilbert's Intensity Record

Date: September 13, 1988 • Location: Rome, Italy

Hurricane Gilbert reached a minimum pressure of 888 mb (26.22 inHg) with sustained flight-level winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), making it the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at the time.

Hurricane Gilbert was a large and extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season, which peaked as a Category 5 hurricane. The storm brought widespread destruction to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and is tied with 1969's Hurricane Camille as the third-most intense tropical cyclone at landfall in the Atlantic Ocean. It was also the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Wilma in 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.