Overview
After a hot September with generally benign marine conditions, a fall cold front crossed the local area on Monday, September 21. The CAA behind the initial FROPA was not particularly strong. However, northeast winds began to ramp up during the night of 9/22 and especially later on 9/23 as anomalously strong (~1040mb) high pressure built into eastern Canada and weak low pressure began to strengthen off the Carolina coast. Frequent gusts of 35-40 knots were observed over the marine area on 9/23 with northeasterly gale force gusts continuing on 9/24 as the synoptic pattern remained similar. This prolonged period of strong northeasterly gusts allowed for seas to build to an impressive 10-17 feet nearshore by Thursday, 9/24. As a result of the high winds and seas, water levels rose to 2.5-3.5 feet above astronomical tides by Wednesday and Thursday, with the highest anomalies initially being observed across the SE VA/NE NC coast, lower and middle Chesapeake Bay, and tidal James River.
Water levels fell a little bit on Friday as the wind direction turned to the north. However, on Friday night into Saturday, the low offshore rapidly deepened off the VA/MD coast and became a Nor'Easter as it slowly tracked to the north with significant impacts felt all along the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast coast. The tightening pressure gradient on the back side of the Nor'Easter allowed for storm force north-northwesterly gusts across the coastal waters north of Chincoteague and seas likely around 20 feet (occasional waves could have easily been 30 feet based off the usual wave height distribution) off of Ocean City, MD. These building seas allowed for water levels to rise area-wide despite the wind direction becoming more out of the north-northwest. Peak water levels in many places occurred during the Saturday morning high tide. Actually, at Ocean City, the north northwest wind helped to push the water that had already built up in the bays right toward the inlet. As a result, water levels finally rose above 5 feet MLLW for the first time in nearly 14 years! Perhaps the most significant part of this event was the duration of moderate to major tidal flooding, with several locations seeing 8-10 straight tide cycles of moderate to major flooding.
By far, tidal flooding was the main story here with wind impacts over land remaining localized to the coast (and not anything out of the ordinary). Widespread heavy rain was not observed with this event, but localized flooding occurred during the day on 9/22 into the early morning on 9/23 in a few areas.
Coastal Flooding
Hydrographs
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| Lynnhaven, VA | Sewell's Point, VA |
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| Smithfield, VA | Jamestown, VA |
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| Wachapreague, VA | Ocean City, MD |
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| Yorktown, VA | Windmill Point, VA |
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| Lewisetta, VA | Tappahannock, VA |
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| Jordan Point, VA | West Point, VA |
Wind Reports:
Public Information Statement National Weather Service Wakefield VA 433 AM EDT Thu Sep 24 2026 ...HIGHEST WIND REPORTS IN THE PAST 24 HOURS AS OF 430 AM EDT THURSDAY... Location Speed Time/Date Lat/Lon ...Maryland... ...Worcester County... Assateague Island 46 MPH 1231 AM 09/24 38.08N/75.20W Ocean City 45 MPH 1058 PM 09/23 38.32N/75.12W Us 50 Eb On Oc Drawbridge Wi 44 MPH 1204 AM 09/24 38.33N/75.09W ...North Carolina... ...Currituck County... 3.0 E Knotts Island (WEATHER 46 MPH 0150 AM 09/24 36.52N/75.87W ...Virginia... ...Accomack County... Wachapreague, VA 48 MPH 0712 PM 09/23 37.61N/75.69W Wallops Island 48 MPH 0800 PM 09/23 37.93N/75.47W Wachapreague 45 MPH 0718 PM 09/23 37.60N/75.69W ...City of Hampton County... Langley AFB Hamp 39 MPH 1012 PM 09/23 37.08N/76.33W ...City of Newport News County... Newport News 43 MPH 0554 PM 09/23 37.13N/76.50W ...City of Norfolk County... Norfolk Intl Airport 49 MPH 0956 PM 09/23 36.90N/76.20W Norfolk NAS Cham 45 MPH 0615 PM 09/23 36.92N/76.27W ...City of Poquoson County... Poquoson 41 MPH 0856 PM 09/23 37.11N/76.32W ...City of Portsmouth County... South Norfolk Jordan Bridge 47 MPH 0628 PM 09/23 36.81N/76.29W ...City of Virginia Beach County... Back Bay 44 MPH 0854 PM 09/23 36.67N/75.92W ...Mathews County... New Point Comfort 42 MPH 0411 AM 09/24 37.33N/76.27W ...Northampton County... Kiptopeke, VA 39 MPH 0706 PM 09/23 37.17N/75.99W ...Maryland... ...Maritime Stations... Ocean City 48 MPH 0823 PM 09/23 38.33N/75.08W ...Virginia... Chesapeake Light Tower 55 MPH 0925 PM 09/23 36.90N/75.71W Cape Henry, VA 51 MPH 0618 PM 09/23 36.93N/76.01W 5 NE Plum Tree Island Refuge 49 MPH 0330 AM 09/24 37.20N/76.27W Lynnhaven Inlet Light 2 48 MPH 0608 PM 09/23 36.92N/76.09W Third Island 47 MPH 1043 PM 09/23 37.04N/76.08W Middle Ground Lighthouse 47 MPH 0906 PM 09/23 36.95N/76.39W Rudee Inlet 46 MPH 0340 AM 09/24 36.83N/75.97W 8 NW Cape Henry 45 MPH 0648 PM 09/23 37.03N/76.08W Poquoson River Light 45 MPH 0859 PM 09/23 37.16N/76.38W Thimble Shoals 44 MPH 0205 AM 09/24 37.05N/76.26W South Craney Island 43 MPH 0854 PM 09/23 36.89N/76.34W Lafayette River 43 MPH 1012 PM 09/23 36.89N/76.32W Rappahannock Light 43 MPH 0230 AM 09/24 37.54N/76.02W Hampton Flats 42 MPH 0620 PM 09/23 36.98N/76.36W Sandbridge 42 MPH 1220 AM 09/24 36.70N/75.93W Willoughby Deguassing Statio 41 MPH 0248 AM 09/24 36.98N/76.32W Yorktown USCG Training Cente 39 MPH 1218 AM 09/24 37.23N/76.48W &&
Photos
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| Ocean View Norfolk, VA | Monticello Avenue Norfolk, VA | Corolla, NC |
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| Wachapreague, VA | Ocean City, MD | Ocean City, MD |
Storm Reports
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1208 PM Flash Flood 2 ESE Saluda 37.60N 76.57W
09/22/2026 Middlesex VA 911 Call Center
Standing water across the Cooks Corner
intersection.
1210 PM Flash Flood 1 WSW Grafton 37.55N 76.49W
09/22/2026 Middlesex VA 911 Call Center
Standing water reported across Coachpoint
Rd.
0133 PM Flash Flood 1 E Lackey 37.23N 76.53W
09/22/2026 York VA Public
Multiple reports of flooding on Old
Williamsburg Rd via Waze app.
0206 PM Flash Flood 1 E Denbigh 37.12N 76.52W
09/22/2026 City of Newport NewVA Public
Multiple reports of street flooding along
I-64 and Warwick Blvd.
0210 PM Flash Flood Harris Grove 37.19N 76.49W
09/22/2026 York VA Dept of Highways
High water on US-17 near Fort Eustis Blvd.
0214 PM Flash Flood Grafton 37.16N 76.46W
09/22/2026 York VA Dept of Highways
High water on US-17 near Wolf Trap Rd.
0258 PM Flash Flood 2 WSW Downtown Portsmou 36.82N 76.33W
09/22/2026 City of Portsmouth VA Public
Multiple reports of street flooding in
Portsmouth near the US 17 and I-264.
0300 PM Flash Flood 1 ENE Bowers Hill 36.79N 76.41W
09/22/2026 City of Chesapeake VA Public
Multiple reports of street flooding near
Bowers Hill and the intersection of I-64,
I-264, and I-664.
0539 PM Flash Flood 1 ESE Rockyhock 36.17N 76.68W
09/22/2026 Chowan NC 911 Call Center
Flooding reported along Evans Church Rd.
0420 AM Flash Flood 2 SW Hatchers 37.56N 78.07W
09/23/2026 Powhatan VA 911 Call Center
High water in a few locations across Route
60 in Powhatan County.
0752 AM Coastal Flood Downtown Norfolk 36.86N 76.29W
09/23/2026 City of Norfolk VA Broadcast Media
A video from the local news showed the
intersection of Boush Street and Olney Road
in Downtown Norfolk is flooded due to
ongoing coastal flooding.
0856 AM Coastal Flood 1 NNE Downtown Suffolk 36.74N 76.58W
09/23/2026 City of Suffolk VA NWS Employee
NWS employee reported Main st in Suffolk is
flooded and closed at Constants Wharf.
1002 AM Coastal Flood Smithfield 36.98N 76.62W
09/23/2026 Isle of Wight VA NWS Employee
NWS Employee reported South Church Street is
flooded due to coastal flooding.
0740 AM Coastal Flood 2 N Norfolk Internation 36.93N 76.21W
09/23/2026 City of Norfolk VA Public
Image showed flooded roadways and water
approaching houses due to this mornings high
tide.
Environment
Insert synoptic summary.
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| WPC Surface Map Loop from 12z/8 AM on 9/21 to 12z/8 AM on 9/27 | WPC 500mb Map Loop from 12z/8 AM on 9/21 to 12z/8 AM on 9/27 |
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