Dear Tom,
Last week when you compared Hurricane Dean to Hurricane Gilbert, you mentioned that Gilbert eventually affected Chicago. What happened here?
Esther Mason
Dear Esther,
Category 5 Hurricane Gilbert, that at its peak packed top winds of 185 m.p.h., ranks as one of the most powerful Atlantic Basin hurricanes on record. Following a track similar to ongoing Hurricane Dean, Gilbert ravaged Jamaica and Cozumel before making landfall in northeast Mexico south of Brownsville, Texas, on Sept. 17, 1988.
From there, a rapidly weakening Gilbert raced northeast across Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Paralleling Interstate 55, the remnants of Gilbert reached Chicago on Sept. 19-20, pelting the area with more than half an inch of rain and wind gusts of 47 m.p.h.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
