It looks more like a flooded lagoon than a Southern California beach town.
New footage from Newport Beach highlights the coastal flooding that has sent seawater spilling across streets around the Balboa Peninsula, with drivers navigating standing water as businesses scramble to protect their doors. And this isn’t even the end of it.
On Monday, October 26, the high tide reached 8.3 feet. Tuesday’s was forecast to climb to 8.5 feet, with dangerous water levels expected to persist into Wednesday.
The culprit is a one-two punch: king tides and an El Niño-associated Kelvin wave.
King tides are unusually high astronomical tides caused by the gravitational alignment of the sun, moon, and Earth. Kelvin waves, meanwhile, are enormous pulses of warm water that cross the Pacific and travel up the California coastline, temporarily raising sea levels.
NOAA says they can add six to 12 inches. Newport Beach officials reported water running 15 to 22 inches above predicted tides amid broader ocean conditions.
“A foot and a half may not sound like much,” Newport Beach City Manager Seimone Jurjis warned, but it can determine whether water stays behind a seawall or pours into “streets, garages and homes.”
Despite extensive preparations, the Pacific found another entrance.
“Thankfully we don’t have that big of waves,” Blair Conklin noted in his video above. “If we had big waves right now, we’d be in a world of hurt.”
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City crews built sand berms near the Wedge and along the oceanfront, deployed pumps, and stacked thousands of sandbags. But Monday’s flooding surged in from the harbor side, soaking the Balboa Fun Zone and Newport Island.
“I never thought I would see this day, that the Fun Zone flooded,” resident Kelly Holt told ABC7. “It’s kind of scary.”
The trouble isn’t limited to Newport.
In Long Beach, water overtopped berms at Bayshore Beach, spilled onto 54th Place, and flooded a garage containing a restored 1968 Volkswagen Beetle.
And in nearby San Pedro, Monday’s tide gauge registered 8.02 feet, beating a record that had stood since 2005.
The National Weather Service has maintained a coastal flood warning for Orange County through Thursday afternoon. Another series of elevated tides is expected around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
California’s beaches have already taken a beating this fall. Now, even without monster surf, the ocean is pushing into the streets. Buckle up; we’re just getting started.
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