Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
2003
Abstract
To the thousands of Tidewater residents who encountered this storm on September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabelshowed many faces, none of them a welcome sight. I would like to dwell for a moment on three that I saw –three different physical traits that tell us not only what we‟ve just experienced from Isabel, in terms of high winds and high water, but what we might expect from other storms like her in the future. Two of these traits –storm surgeand storm tide-are governed by probability. Like rolls of the dice, they have odds but no certainty about them. The third -sea level rise-is all too certain and adds slowly but continually to the danger present in the extreme water levels we will experience in our region in coming years.
I‟ll illustrate my point by comparing Isabelwith another hurricane that happened 70 years ago. This storm had no name but it is generally known as the August 1933 hurricane –the storm of the century for Chesapeake Bay. Before making the comparison, let‟s begin with a brief introduction to the three faces.
Description
Brief report.
Keywords
Storm surge, storm tides, Chesapeake Bay
Recommended Citation
Boon, J. D. (2003) The Three Faces of Isabel: Storm surge, storm tide, and sea level rise. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/reports/1987
