We all have visions of a romantic Hollywood movie with a classic California scene. Naturally it includes a vibrant sunset over calm Pacific waters.
I recall a conversation I had a number of years ago with a west coast native. He raved about those sunsets with an air of superiority. Obviously people on the east coast of the United States led deprived and empty lives. Those unfortunate soles could only experience sunsets over land. “Oh yeh,” I replied, “what about this?”
The Situation at Silver Beach
This is a scene from Silver Beach, in Northampton County, Virginia. It sits on Virginia’s eastern shore. That’s the narrow sandy strip physically separated from the remainder of the Commonwealth by the Chesapeake Bay. At that spot it also forms the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. I went there each summer for a number of years to visit with some friends and enjoy a relaxing beach weekend.
As anyone can plainly see, the photo shows a sunset completely over water. No visible land appears anywhere out to the distant horizon. What’s more, someone with the proper ambition could wake up the next morning, drive to the other side of this narrow peninsula, and watch the sun rise over water too. Take that, west coasties!
How it’s Possible
The Chesapeake Bay is about 15 miles wide at this spot so the distance is longer than the line of site distance from the shoreline. Formulas involving elevation and curvature of the earth define this distance. Atmospherics, individual eyesight and other factors further limit it. However, Wikipedia’s Horizon page describes it a whole lot better than what I want to cover here so that’s where you should go.
Someone sitting along the shore, maybe on a little sand dune for some added elevation, can see out perhaps 3 to 5 miles on a clear day. Result: sunset over water.
That’s not a particularly high bar when you think about it. Someone should be able to experience this phenomenon in literally dozens of places in the Eastern United States. I pulled out a map and quickly came up with several candidates that are part of the mainland. Offshore islands are already natural choices so I ignored them. Even though, I probably missed numerous worthy options.
Big duh for obviousness
- The entire western coast of the Florida peninsula along the Gulf of Mexico.
Other fairly obvious spots
- The upper end of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
- Cape May, New Jersey. I’ve been on the other side of Delaware Bay and I couldn’t see across so I imagine the reverse must be true.
- Many locations along the Virginia and Maryland eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in addition to the example above. That assumes it’s a spot away from the line of sight of the mid-bay islands
- Cape Hatteras and other portions of the North Carolina outer banks
- The eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee, Florida
- Numerous spots along the Great Lakes, including almost the entire western edge of the Michigan mitten. Bunches of spots in Ontario too, if you want to include Canada in this game.
Maybe?
- Portions of the North Carolina mainland facing Albemarle Sound.
- The bump on the Florida panhandle south of Panama City.
- The eastern shore of some of the larger lakes in Minnesota (e.g., Mille Lacs Lake; Red Lake)
UPDATE: You might also enjoy the later entry focused on for the opposite condition, West Coast Sunrises over Water.
Leave a Reply