the.com/landfall
The moment a storm stops being a forecast and starts being a bill.
means The moment a ship or storm reaches land after being out at sea, or more loosely, the first sighting of land after a voyage.
from A straightforward compound from sailing language — 'land' plus 'fall,' as in the land 'falling' into view on the horizon after days of open water. It's been nautical vocabulary since at least the 1600s, originally just meaning the sighting or reaching of shore, long before it got pressed into service for hurricanes making their grim arrival.
- legal moment
- insurance clocks officially start ticking at landfall
- misleading term
- eye can cross coast while eyewall damage hits hours earlier
- deadliest part
- storm surge often arrives before the wind does
- weakens fast
- hurricanes lose power quickly once fuel source, warm ocean, disappears