 In the warm waters of the Caribbean , Dean rapidly strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane with 165 mph ( 266 km / h ) sustained winds . This made it the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma — and it was tied for the seventh most intense Atlantic storm of all time . An eyewall replacement cycle weakened Dean , which then passed just south of Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane . Dean regained Category 5 status late on August 20 and at that strength it made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico near Costa Maya on August 21 . Hurricane Dean was the first storm to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Andrew in 1992 . A dropsonde in the eye of the storm estimated a central pressure of 905 mbar , tying Dean with hurricanes Camille and Mitch for the seventh most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded . Dean was the third most intense landfalling Atlantic storm in history ( after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Gilbert of 1988 ) . Dean weakened over land , but re @-@ intensified slightly in the Gulf of Mexico . It made its final landfall near Tecolutla , Veracruz on August 22 , dissipating the next day . 
