High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hurricane Gilbert was an extremely powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and created widespread destruction in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin behind only Hurricane Wilma of the very active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Gilbert was also one of the largest tropical cyclones ever observed in the Atlantic basin. At one point, its tropical storm-force winds measured 588 mi (946 km) in diameter. In addition, Gilbert was the most intense tropical cyclone to strike Mexico, slightly ahead of Hurricane Dean in 2007.