Record King Tides Slam U.S. Coasts: Los Angeles Harbor Sets All-Time Record as Outer Banks Highway Is Destroyed and Visitors Evacuate

WASHINGTON — Record-breaking high tides slammed the coasts of Southern California and the southeastern United States this week, flooding streets and low-lying areas and gnawing away at beaches, USA TODAY reported on October 26. Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center, said the full moon on October 26, converging with warmer than normal waters, El Niño, offshore storms and other patterns, ramped up seasonal high tides.

One new development is in California: the high tide at San Pedro in Los Angeles Harbor on October 26 hit just above 8 feet, an all-time record for the gauge, where records date back to November 1923; the previous record was 7.93 feet, set on January 10, 2005. The National Weather Service offices in Los Angeles and San Diego warned that "significant coastal flooding" in Southern California would last through Thursday, October 29, with tides forecast as much as 1.7 feet above normal full-moon predictions, likely raising morning high tides above 8 feet; the morning high tide at La Jolla on October 26 reached at least 7.79 feet.

Another new development is in Florida: Miami set tidal records on four of the last five days, with the October 25 record the fifth highest all-time at the gauge; Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate with the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, said the streak could reach "an unprecedented 10 days" before water levels retreat, with the highest tide of the event expected on Tuesday morning. A high tide at Port Canaveral was the highest non-tropical cyclone-related water level ever recorded since the gauge was established in October 1994. Flooding was reported in Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach, and coastal flood advisories are in effect for parts of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

A third new development is on North Carolina's Outer Banks: sections of the coastal highway have been destroyed, closing portions of the only artery along the barrier islands, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. An emergency evacuation order is in effect for visitors, and no visitors are permitted on Hatteras Island. Work continues to reestablish a protective dune line, remove damaged pavement and grade the roadbed at the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge visitor center, "but high tide overwash continues to be an issue," the department said. Oravec also noted that Tropical Storm Vance has been downgraded and should dissipate before reaching Mexico's coast, though related rainfall may still bring flooding and mudslides to parts of Mexico and possibly the southwestern United States.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：北卡罗来纳州外滩群岛海滩（资料图）。照片：SCMiller，CC BY-SA 3.0，经维基共享资源。 / Outer Banks beach, North Carolina (file photo). Photo: SCMiller, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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