Discover the Most Powerful Hurricane to Ever Hit Virginia

Virginia is a Mid-Atlantic state with a border on the Atlantic Ocean. The state shares a border with North Carolina, an area that has been struck quite frequently by hurricanes throughout its history. However, Virginia rarely has hurricane landfalls, and the tropical storms that make their way to the state are usually weak. Learn about the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Virginia and find out how strong it was, where it struck, and the damage it caused.

In this case, we are looking for the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Virginia. That does not exclude hurricanes traveling from other states to Virginia. Also, the storm’s overall intensity does not matter, only the power it had when it first struck the state.

For example, if a hurricane was Category 5 when it struck another state and only a tropical storm when it hit Virginia, it is not counted as a hurricane in the state.

How Hurricanes Are Rated

Before we look at the most powerful hurricane to ever hit Virginia, it is important to understand how such storms are ranked. A few ways exist to categorize powerful hurricanes. Atmospheric pressure and wind speed are two common measures used to determine the power of a hurricane.

For most people, wind speed is the most important aspect because it is one of the easiest ways to measure the storm’s power. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale helps estimate the power of a hurricane. The following chart reflects the hurricane rating along with its associated wind speed.

Any hurricane stronger than a Category 3 is a major hurricane. Fewer major hurricanes make landfall compared to minor ones, but these storms are hardly common. Only four Category 5 hurricanes have come ashore at that strength in the United States.

When Is Hurricane Season in Virginia?

The hurricane season in Virginia is based on the Atlantic Hurricane season. The Atlantic Hurricane season started on June 1 and ends on November 30. The most tropical storms ever produced in a single season was 30, and that happened in 2020. The most hurricanes ever produced in a single season was 15, and that happened in 2005.

Hurricanes rarely make direct landfall in Virginia. Hurricanes usually make landfall in the Carolinas as they sweep up the East Coast. North Carolina sticks out farther into the Atlantic Ocean than most of Virginia, and much of the land between Virginia and New England is somewhat recessed from the coast.  

Virginia has experienced a few strikes from hurricanes in its day, but it has never had a direct landfall within the state from the Atlantic Ocean. The storms usually hit North Carolina first or come up from the Gulf Coast before tracking inland.  

What Was the Most Powerful Hurricane To Ever Hit Virginia?

The most powerful hurricane to ever hit Virginia was Hurricane Isabel, a Category 1 hurricane that struck Virginia on September 18, 2003. The hurricane brought sustained winds of 75 mph to the region along with gusts of 105 mph. The lowest pressure reading as the storm passed through the state was 969 mbar.

Hurricane Isabel was one of the few hurricanes that actually struck the state as a hurricane and did not merely pass off the coast of the state. Many other large hurricanes tracked near the state but did not make landfall or they did not retain their hurricane status as they pushed into Virginia. They include:

• Hurricane Donna
• The Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879
• 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane

For those reasons, Hurricane Isabel, a true Category 1 hurricane when it struck the state, is the strongest one to strike the state.

The Damages from Hurricane Isabel

Hurricane Isabel was the costliest natural disaster to ever strike the state. By the time the effects of the storm had abated, 10 people were dead as a direct result of the storm. The hurricane indirectly killed 22 people.

The powerful winds and incredibly high storm surge destroyed over 1,000 homes and nearly 100 businesses. Thousands more homes and businesses were damaged in the storm. Over 100 million people lost power during the storm. Power companies needed over a week to fully restore power to all of the areas that lost it during the storm.

Most of the state was declared a disaster area in the leadup to the storm’s landfall. The cost of the storm was estimated at $1.85 billion in 2003 dollars. Although Isabel did not have the most powerful winds in the state’s history, it did a vast amount of damage in the region.

How Were Animals Impacted During the Hurricane?

Virginia is home to a vast number of animals. Some of the animals that live in the state include:

• White-tailed deer
• Painted turtle
• Cow
• Chicken
• Great blue heron
• Red fox
• Virginia opossum
• Duck
• Horse
• Timber rattlesnake

Few details exist about the plight of animals in this hurricane. However, given the immense amount of flooding that breached the area, it’s highly likely that many animals died throughout the storm.

The most powerful hurricane to ever hit Virginia was not even close to the most powerful hurricane to strike the country. Category 5 hurricanes strike with sustained winds of 157 mph and bring more widespread destruction. Yet, any hurricane can be a dangerous phenomenon. The winds, widespread nature of the storm, and flooding can create catastrophic conditions even as a minor hurricane.