Storm Surge/Tide — Southern Craven, North Carolina

2023-09-22 to 2023-09-23 · Southern Craven, North Carolina

Event narrative

Inundation began in New Bern as strong persistent northeast winds well ahead of Ophelia pushed water up the Neuse and Trent Rivers during the early evening hours. Water levels peaked around 9pm with values around 4 feet above ground level near the New Bern waterfront. The water receded through the overnight as the northeast winds diminished, but then came back up during the early to mid morning hours of the September 23rd as strong south to southeast winds developed as the center of Ophelia moved through inland Eastern NC. Water level values came up to around 4 feet above ground level once again, before quickly receding late morning through afternoon.

Wider weather episode

On Thursday, September 21st, an area of low pressure begin to develop and get more organized off the Southeast US coastline. That low continued to deepen and become more organized, eventually taking on tropical characteristics, becoming the 15th named storm of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season on Friday, September 22nd. Ophelia developed into a strong tropical storm and moved north over the next couple of days, making landfall during the early morning hours near Emerald Isle, NC. Ophelia continued to march north through the heart of Eastern North Carolina on Saturday, September 23rd. Ophelia eventually weakened to a Tropical Depression Saturday evening over southern Virginia.

Ophelia brought widespread heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and significant river and storm surge flooding to portions of Eastern North Carolina, and is a reminder that it's never just a tropical storm. One of the more notable impacts with Ophelia was flooding, both from storm surge and from heavy rain / flash flooding. Significant storm surge flooding occurred along the Neuse, Pamlico, and Pungo Rivers. Inland, significant flooding occurred in the Greenville area due to flash flooding and a rapidly rising Green Mill Run.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1140761. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.