Flood and Drought Data

 

NOAA Data

NOAA York Watershed link shows historical flood data within the York Watershed. The gauge that NOAA has installed is located at the mouth of the river. The worst flood captured by the gauge since 2004 in the York Watershed was from Remnants of Hurricane Ida on November 12th 2009. The Mean Higher High Water  was 4.29 ft with a flood level of major for anything higher than 2.92 ft. The Mean Lower Low Water was 6.87 ft with a flood level of major for anything higher than 5.50 ft.  
However the gauge was destroyed before peak water levels during Hurricane Isabelle on Sept. 18, 2003. Since the data was destroyed it could not be recorded on the list above but it appears to be one of the most devastating hurricane in Virginia to date. The link provided (Virginia Hurricane History) includes the history of major hurricanes that have devastated Virginia.

Hurricane Ida

Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency after the damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. The image shows the path the hurricane took up the east coast of the United States as well as the rainfall from the hurricane. The wind was averaged at 30 to 50 mph with gusts around 60 mph. NBC news reported, "Dominion Power reported more than 32,400 customers without electricity in Virginia and North Carolina, with more than 26,850 of them in southeast Virginia,"(2009). Flooding caused deaths of three motorcyclists throughout Virginia. The flooding closed several area streets, bridges and a major tunnel as winds worsened so did high tides that were already 6 to 7 feet above normal.




Hurricane Isabelle

Hurricane Isabelle took the lives of 32 people in Virginia and damaged 9,027 homes. The total damages calculated not including economic loss was estimated around $1.9 billion. The hurricane destroyed 1,124 homes. The photo below shows the radar image of the hurricane captured by NOAA. This tide gage stopped recording at 8.5 ft MLLW during the storm. Maximum measured still water level across the river at Yorktown was 8.6 ft MLLW with the trash line indicating the water plus waves was at 12.5 ft MLLW. A lot of funding was put forward to research the ecological impacts that Hurricane Isabelle had on the coast of Virginia. More information can be found at: Hurricane Isabelle



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