Hurricane Earl and Virginia Offshore Drilling (Lease Area 220)
What if Virginia had active offshore oil and gas development?
We got the latest wind-history data from NOAA, showing the extent of hurricane-force and tropical-storm-force winds as Hurricane Earl moved along the East Coast today. We overlaid these “wind envelopes” on the proposed drilling area designated Lease Area 220. Here is the result, using a satellite image of the storm taken at 3pm EDT as backdrop:
Most of the drilling area would have experienced hurricane conditions today. The western part, along with the coastal support facilities onshore – pipelines, storage tanks, refineries, etc. – would have faced tropical storm conditions.
Here is the source for the wind history data, current through 11am EDT today. We’ll update this map as more complete wind-history data become available: