Hurricane Gilbert (1988)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 8, 1988 to September 20, 1988

Peak strength

Category 5, 160 kt (184 mph)

Lowest pressure

888 mb (26.22 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

32.8

Fastest the center moved

42 kt (48 mph)

Identifier

AL081988

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 1,868 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 8.60 inches (218 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm AlbertoNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Storm35 kt · 1002 mb
• Tropical Storm BerylNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Storm45 kt · 1001 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression30 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression30 kt
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression30 kt
• Tropical Storm ChrisNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Storm45 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane DebbyNorth Atlantic · 1988Cat 165 kt · 987 mb
• Tropical Storm ErnestoNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Storm55 kt · 994 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression30 kt
• Unnamed tropical stormNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Storm50 kt · 994 mb
• Hurricane FlorenceNorth Atlantic · 1988Cat 170 kt · 982 mb
• Hurricane HeleneNorth Atlantic · 1988Cat 4125 kt · 938 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression25 kt
• Tropical Storm IsaacNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Storm40 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane Joan:MiriamNorth Atlantic · 1988Cat 4125 kt · 932 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 1988Tropical Depression30 kt
• Hurricane KeithNorth Atlantic · 1988Cat 165 kt · 945 mb

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.

• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Gilbert