Tides flood SoCal streets, break records

Residents in Southern California woke up to flooded streets and closed businesses on Monday as record-breaking tides pushed seawater well past the usual shoreline. The water reached levels that inundated the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach and streets in Long Beach, forcing locals to move vehicles to higher ground.

City crews spent the weekend installing sandbags and moving sand to shore up vulnerable beaches. Georgia Rios, a spokesperson for Newport Beach, noted that the community heeded official warnings to prepare. She said about 25,000 sandbags were used over the weekend. Rios credited residents for limiting damage by protecting their homes.

The surge broke local records in several locations. The San Pedro tide gauge recorded 8.02 feet on Monday morning. This surpassed the previous high of 7.93 feet set in January 2005. In La Jolla, officials measured the sea level at 7.75 feet. Chandler Price, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said this is very close to the local record of 7.81 feet.

Weather forecasters expect even higher water levels on Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood warning for Orange and San Diego counties that remains in effect through Thursday afternoon. A coastal flood advisory covers Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties.

The warning cites a rare combination of factors driving the flooding. An active eastern Pacific hurricane season fueled by El Niño is generating damaging swells. A marine heat wave is also affecting the region. Additionally, an astronomical alignment occurs only once every 20 years.

Scientists say total water levels in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties could exceed 8 feet above the baseline. The baseline is the average daily lowest water level observed between 1983 and 2001. Projected seawater levels at Los Angeles Harbor could hit 8.1 feet on Tuesday and 8 feet on Wednesday.

In Newport Beach, seawater reached 8.3 feet on Monday. This was nearly 2 feet higher than expected from the high tide alone. Potential levels on the city’s coastline could reach 8.5 feet on Tuesday at 9:50 a.m. and Wednesday at 10:28 a.m.

Warm ocean temperatures are amplifying the tides. Scientists note that record-hot waters are causing seawater levels to be 1.25 to 1.8 feet higher than what moon and sun movements would produce alone. Surface temperatures at Scripps Pier in La Jolla reached around 77 degrees in early August. The average maximum for that time is 70 degrees.

On Thursday, the surface temperature at that location was around 73 degrees. This is well above the average of 66 degrees for this time of year. Reinhard Flick, a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explained that the current tides coincide with peaks in the 18.6-year lunar node cycle and the 4.4-year lunar perigee cycle.

These cycles affect tide-generating forces due to small changes in the moon's orbit. Scientists warn that if big storms emerge during the king tides around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the coastal flooding risk will increase further.