Southeast also dealing with coastal flooding
10 minutes ago
We have been talking about the anticipated King Tide coastal flooding in southern California being potentially record setting this week, and this morning the NOAA tidal gauges at both Los Angeles and San Diego broke their all time records for highest water level recorded during the high tide cycle. Los Angeles reached 2.53’ above Mean High High Water (MHHW), breaking the prior record of 2.43’ set in January 2005. It was also the first time the site has ever been reached moderate flood category.
San Diego reached 2.72’ MHHW, breaking the previous record of 2.51’ in November 2015. (Note that some of my colleagues reported issues with the San Diego tidal gauge this morning, but it now appears to have correct, updated info.)
Water levels were not as extreme in northern California, but San Francisco still set an October record with their high tide this morning.
Tides are expected to be even higher on Tuesday morning. Officials along the southern California coast have been taking mitigation actions such as sandbagging vulnerable areas in preparation for this flood event.
It is important to understand that this flooding is happening without any storm system or particularly strong winds. It is the result of the combination of unusually high water levels due to astronomical King Tides and factors related to El Nino. Anthony Edwards (who shared the video above) has been doing a great job covering this for the San Francisco Chronicle and has an excellent explainer here.
The weather is expected to get active again in the Southwest by this weekend as a strong upper level disturbance and associated surface low pressure system impacts the region. Locally heavy rains are expected again, particularly in higher elevations of the Four Corners region.
A combination of King Tides and strong onshore winds is producing widespread moderate to locally major coastal flooding along the Southeast coast as well. Beach erosion and rip currents are a significant issue here as well.
FYI: I will be traveling this upcoming week for work I am doing for an educational project, as well as a few days of vacation. I plan to make some occasional posts, but the frequency will be less than usual.
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