Did Gilbert landfall as a cat 5?

[tallywx]

I know the official post-storm report says Gilbert made landfall at 20.7N, 87.0W (Cozumel) with winds of 160 mph and a pressure of 900 mb, but was this actually the case? I've heard conflicting reports of the inner eyewall collapsing "right before landfall at Cozumel." That would suggest that cat 5 winds were not observed. Were there any actual pressure reports from the landfall location of this min. central pressure, or was that just extrapolation based on recon. a couple of hours earlier (that at the time still showed an inner eyewall)?

[tallywx]

Just a quick addendum based on the 1988 post-storm report..."no pressure readings in the eye of Gilbert were reported as it moved ashore in Mexico." If the inner eye did indeed collapse, then would this extrapolation based on a pressure taken when there was still an inner eye be suspect?

[SouthernWx]

Reports of catastrophic damage and storm video from Cozumel I've seen made it clear Gilbert was likely a category 5 hurricane at landfall...IMO sustained winds near 150 kts (170-175 mph).

Also, the measured storm surge of 20-21' near Cozumal was indicative of a category 5 hurricane along that coastline. The slope offshore is steep, and it takes a very intense hurricane to create such a large surge in that area.

[tallywx]

According to the air force, http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0503/hurr2.html,

"Gilbert had the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere and reached Category 5 status. But by the time it made landfall over Cozumel, Mexico, it had weakened to a Category 3 storm. "

Strange, because you're right, the storm surge was huge along that Mexican coastline. Could it have been that the surge didn't have time to dissipate since the eye possibly (I still don't know for sure) collapsed just a few min. before landfall?

[Derek Ortt]

It was a cat 3 on the Mexican mainland, but at Cozemul, Hurrdat has it as a 140KT category 5 hurricane

[SouthernWx]

According to the air force, http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0503/hurr2.html,

"Gilbert had the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere and reached Category 5 status. But by the time it made landfall over Cozumel, Mexico, it had weakened to a Category 3 storm. "

That link doesn't work (says "error 404, link no longer valid"), but it is incorrect if it states Gilbert weakened to cat-3 at Cozumel. Hurricane Gilbert did weaken from cat-5 to an 85-90 kt cat-2 hurricane while OVER the Yucatan....but restrengthened to a strong cat-3 (110 kt) before making a second landfall near La Pesca, Mexico (between Tampico, Mex. and Brownsville, TX).

[Stormsfury]

Take off the comma and it's fine ...

http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0503/hurr2.html