Coastal Flood — Lancaster, Virginia

2025-10-12 to 2025-10-13 · Lancaster, Virginia

Event narrative

A coastal low lingering off the Southeast coast on October 12 resulted in a prolonged period of elevated northeast to north winds across the Chesapeake Bay. This led to widespread moderate to major coastal flooding across Lancaster County on October 12 into October 13. Windmill Point reached 4.25 ft MLLW at 318 PM EST on October 12, the seventh highest crest at that site, and 3.71 ft at 348 AM EST on October 13.

Wider weather episode

A coastal low formed off of the Southeast coast on October 11 and slowly tracked north into October 13 before moving offshore. Meanwhile, a strong 1035mb area of high pressure lingered over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. This resulted in a prolonged period of strong northeast to north winds across the Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters, which allowed for widespread moderate to major coastal flooding across eastern Virginia and the Virginia Eastern Shore on October 12 into October 13.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1297156. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.