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. explosive 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.