User:Seddon/Gilbert

Meteorological History
On 3 September a westward moving tropical wave showing no signs of organization, emerged fran the northwest African coast over the open waters of the North Atlantic. During the next several days a broad low pressure area associated with the tropical wave developed over the Atlantic midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles with ship reports indicating the circulation attended nearly to the equator. An organized circulation center was not evident on satellite imagery until the system was approaching the Windward Islands on 8 Sqatember.

On 9 September the low was classified by satellite as the 12th tropical depression of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season when it was located about 400 miles east of Barbados. The depression moved on a west-northwest course around l5 knots with satellite and reconnaissance reports indicating that it had attained tropical storm strength as it moved over the Lesser Antilles the afternoon of 9 September.

Tropical Storm Gilbert rapidly strengthened an 10 September and was classified as a hurricane by that evening. Gilbert continued to strengthen as it brushed the south coast of Hispaniola, then passed directly over the island of Jamaica as a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Sinpson Scale with sustained winds of 110 knots and a minimum pressure of 960 mb( 28.35 inches). Following the passage of the center across Jamaica, Gilbert went through a rerarkable intensification period with the pressure falling from 960mb(28.35 inches) to 888 mb(26.22 inches) in 24 hours. The 888 mb pressure was observed by a IDAA plane near 19.5N and 83.391 at 2152 UIC on 13 September and is the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. At the same time the plane ueasured 160 knot sustained winds at 10,000 feet with a peak wind of 173 knots. During the period of rapid strengthening Gilbert continued on a west northwest course at 15 knots under the influence of a persistent high pressure to the north. The center passed a short distance southeast of Grand Caynan Island with a wind gust of 136 knots recorded there at 1900 UIC.

The center of Gilbert crossed over the northeast portion of the Yucatan Peninsula on 14 September as a category 5 hurricane, the first category 5 hurricane to uake landfall in the western hemisphere since Camille in 1969. The hurricane lost strength quite rapidly as the eye moved across the Yucatan Peninsula with the minimun pressure rising to around 950 mb(28.05 inches) by the time the center emerged over the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Gilbert continued on the same west-northwest course at around 15 knots across the Gulf and reached the northeast lbxican coast just north of the town of La Pesca around 2200 UTC on l6 September as a category 3 hurricane.

The center of the weakening storm passed south of Monterrey, Mexico on l7 September then turned toward the north and moved across western Texas and into Okolahma as a heavy rain storm on 18 September. It finally merged with a developing frontal low pressure system over Missouri on 19 September.