Hurricane in Virginia, August 26 to 28, 1998

Hurricane Bonnie moved just offshore of southeast Virginia on August 27th and 28th. Very strong winds and heavy rains associated with Bonnie's spiral bands hammered the Hampton Roads area Thursday evening into Friday morning. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 81 mph at Cape Henry (anemometer elevation is 90 ft). Other sustained wind speeds were 78 mph at the Chesapeake Light Station Buoy just offshore (anemometer elevation is 90 ft), 53 mph at Langley Air Force Base, and 46 mph at the Norfolk International Airport. The highest gusts recorded were 104 mph at Cape Henry, 93 mph at the Chesapeake Light Station Buoy, 67 mph at Langley Air Force Base, and 64 mph at the Norfolk International Airport. Widespread power outages (up to 250,000 customers/750,000 people) were reported in the Hampton Roads area, along with reports of numerous trees down, trees down on homes, power lines down and some structural damage due to wind. Many windows were reported to have been blown out of hotels along the Virginia Beach oceanfront by the high winds. Some street flooding occurred in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Portsmouth due to heavy rain and a 2 to 4 foot storm surge. The peak tidal departure at Sewells Point in Norfolk was 3.5 feet above normal or 6.0 feet above MLLW. This resulted in moderate coastal flooding at the time of high tide. Rainfall amounts generally ranged from 1 to 3 inches across the Hampton Roads area with isolated amounts of 4 to 7 inches occurring in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area. The lowest sea level pressure recorded was 999 mb at the Oceana Naval Air Station.