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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 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. Gilbert wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico for nearly nine days. In total, it killed 318 people and caused about $7.1 billion (1988 USD) in damages over the course of its path. As a result of the extensive damage caused by Gilbert, the World Meteorological Organization retired the name in the spring of 1989; it was replaced with Gordon. ==Meteorological history== The origins of Hurricane Gilbert trace back to an easterly tropical wave—an elongated low-pressure area moving from east to west—that exited the northwestern coast of Africa on September 3, 1988. Over the subsequent days, the wave traversed the tropical Atlantic and developed a broad wind circulation extending just north of the equator. The system remained disorganized until September 8, when satellite images showed a defined circulation center approaching the Windward Islands. The following day, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) classified it as the twelfth tropical depression of the annual hurricane season using the Dvorak technique, when it was located about 400 mi (640 km) east of Barbados. The depression proceeded toward the west-northwest, and while moving through the Lesser Antilles near Martinique, it gained enough strength to be designated as Tropical Storm Gilbert. After becoming a tropical storm, Gilbert underwent a period of significant strengthening. Passing to the south of Hispaniola, it became a hurricane late on September 10 and further strengthened to Category 3 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson scale the next day. At that time, Gilbert was classified as a major hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure 960 mbar (hPa; 28.35 inHg). On September 12, the hurricane made landfall on the eastern coast of Jamaica at this intensity; its 15 mi (25 km)-wide eye moved from east to west across the entire length of the island.〔〔Pan American Health Organization Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Coordination Program. (1999-02-20) ("The Hurricane and its Effects: Hurricane Gilbert - Jamaica" ). Centro Regional de Información sobre Desastres América Latina y El Caribe. Retrieved 2012-03-04.〕 Gilbert strengthened rapidly after emerging from the coast of Jamaica. As the hurricane brushed the Cayman Islands, a reporting station on Grand Cayman recorded a wind gust of 156 mph (252 km/h) as the storm passed just to the southeast on September 13. Extreme intensification continued until Gilbert reached a minimum pressure of 888 mbar (hPa; 26.22 inHg) with maximum sustained flight-level winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), having intensified by 72 mbar in a space of 24 hours.〔 This pressure was the lowest ever observed in the Western Hemisphere and made Gilbert the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record until it was surpassed by Hurricane Wilma in 2005.〔 Gilbert made landfall for a second time on the island of Cozumel, and subsequently made landfall on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula on September 14 as a Category 5 hurricane,〔〔 making it the first Category 5 to make landfall in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane David hit Hispanola in 1979; the minimum pressure at landfall in Cozumel was estimated to be 900 mbar (26.6 inHg). The storm weakened quickly while crossing land before it emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane. Gilbert restrengthened rapidly, however, and made landfall for a final time as a Category 3 hurricane near La Pesca, Tamaulipas on September 16, with winds of about .〔 On September 17, Gilbert brushed the inland city of Monterrey, Nuevo León before taking a sharp turn to the north. The storm spawned 29 tornadoes in Texas on September 18 before moving across Oklahoma and being absorbed by a low-pressure system over Missouri on September 19, finally becoming extratropical.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hurricane Gilbert」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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