King tides bring warnings about flooding

Extremely high tides expected through Tuesday prompted weather forecasters Sunday to issue a flood warning for coastal regions of the Bay Area.

The dramatic tidal fluctuations known as king tides — caused by the full moon being in close proximity to the Earth — were expected to surge as high as 7 feet, said Steve Anderson, a National Weather Service meteorologist. Tides will reach their height in the mid- to late-morning hours of Monday and Tuesday, forecasters said.

Officials recommended caution in low-lying parking lots, coastal trails, underpasses and roadways. The Point Reyes National Seashore, southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur coast were among those expected to be inundated with high tides.

“And the water might splash up onto the Embarcadero,” Anderson said. “Just be aware.”

The warning remains in effect until Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Marina Psaros, co-founder of King Tides Project, a group that tries to raise awareness of the effects of climate change, said there won’t be as much roadway flooding as on days when king tides coincide with storms.

“We have this kind of nuisance flooding, or sunny-day flooding, and you’ll see a little bit of water on the Embarcadero, for example, at the highest point of the high tide, and all of our marshes will be flooded, and the water will look like it’s about to spill on Highway 37,” she said. “We usually don’t get a bunch of wet infrastructure on sunny days — it’s really when there’s a storm that you see the flooding at the parking lots, and you see water up over the roads.

“King tides are a natural phenomenon, nothing to be worried about,” Psaros said. “It’s a really good opportunity to think about how our city and our region will be impacted by sea level rise.”