Weather

How king tides lead to ‘sunny day flooding'

King Tides are most common from September to November and even into early December at times of high tide.

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Meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin explains king tides and what causes sunny day flooding.

Sunny day, saltwater, or tidal flooding has become part of life for us here in South Florida, but we are not alone.

Folks up and down the East Coast from Florida to Maine are seeing flooding on days where there hasn’t been a drop of rain.

King Tides are most common from September to November and even into early December at times of high tide.

Earth just had its hottest summer on record and may very well have its hottest year on record. This global warming melts the polar ice caps, which increases the level of the ocean.

King Tides are astronomically higher tides that happen because of the moon in the fall. The combination of sea-level rise from climate change and the King Tides means the level of the water is higher than the level of the drain and the water backs up.

If it happens to rain on top of this sunny day flooding, the water simply has nowhere to go and this can lead to even more significant flooding, like we expect in October and November.

The next round will be the first week of October.

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