landfall

[ land-fawl ]

/ ˈlændˌfɔl /

an approach to or sighting of land: The ship will make its landfall at noon tomorrow.

the land sighted or reached.

a landslide.

Origin of landfall

First recorded in 1620–30; land + fall

After whacking North Carolina, Hurricane Irene made its second landfall in New Jersey Sunday morning.

Irene Strikes New Jersey | |August 27, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
There were six days of sailing ere the captain made his landfall, and they stood off till evening.

McClure's Magazine, Vol. 31, No. 1, May 1908 |Various
Biddle and Humboldt, in the early part of the present century, accepted the Labrador landfall with little question.

Christopher Columbus and How He Received and Imparted the Spirit of Discovery |Justin Winsor
The only significant history of Cuba begins, therefore, with the landfall of Christopher Columbus upon its shores.

The History of Cuba, vol. 1 |Willis Fletcher Johnson

Manned as she was, the schooner might never be worked back to a landfall if they did so.

Sheila of Big Wreck Cove |James A. Cooper
Your real land-birds never know their own roosts, even in a landfall at sea.

The Pathfinder |James Fenimore Cooper

landfall

/ (ˈlændˌfɔːl) /

the act of sighting or nearing land, esp from the sea

the land sighted or neared