The Marin IJ has reported that King tides are expected to bring flooding risks in Marin shoreline communities between November and January. According to the paper, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that tide levels could reach more than 6.4 feet and rise further during rainy weather. High tide levels are projected to occur Nov. 13 to 18, Dec. 11 to 17, Dec. 30 and 31, Jan. 1 and Jan. 28 to 30. Check out the Floating Times interactive tide chart to find the times for high water each day.
The California King Tides Project asks for your help to photograph the highest predicted high tides of the year, the first of which arrive on November 15. It’s easy to help via the Project’s website:
- Choose where along the coast, bay, or Delta you’d like to go.
- Find the high tide time closest to your chosen location on their map.
- Learn how to upload your photos.
Your photos help the Project understand what’s vulnerable to flooding today, plan for future sea level rise, and get us all talking and thinking about the impacts of the climate crisis and what we can do to make a difference.
Sea level rise is caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere acts like a blanket, trapping in heat that would otherwise escape. When we burn fossil fuels, we’re adding more carbon dioxide, thickening the blanket, and heating the earth, air, and ocean. Sea level is rising because land-based glaciers and ice sheets are melting into the ocean, and because water takes up more space when it warms. The amount of sea level rise we will ultimately experience depends on how quickly we stop burning fossil fuels.
According to the King Tides Project, “King Tides themselves are not caused by sea level rise but allow us to experience what higher sea level will be like. King Tides are the predicted highest tides caused by the gravitational pull of the earth, moon, and sun, about a foot or two higher than average high tides, and they preview the sea level expected within the next few decades. When you observe the King Tides, picture the water level that high and higher every day. Documenting what King Tides look like today will help us responsibly plan for sea level rise in the future.”
Recently, the IJ reported that Sausalito is advancing on its sea-level adaptation plan. Senate Bill 272, passed last year, requires local jurisdictions to develop a sea-level rise adaptation plan. It also prioritizes funding for municipalities with an approved plan. This month, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission released SB 272 guidelines, which with the city’s plan must align, according to Catie Thow Garcia, the City’s Resiliency & Sustainability Manager. She is leading a series of community workshops to gather public input to the process. Informative panels from her first workshop are now on the FHA website, in a new portal on the home page called Community Hot Topics.
Thow Garcia added that while the plan is limited to the city, the “sphere of influence” is extended to the boat community as well. She hopes to complete the plan by the end of 2025. More information can be found online.
Meanwhile, SFGate has reported that a mild El Niño is predicted this winter. During this recurring weather pattern, trade winds weaken and allow warm water to build up in the eastern Pacific, generally bringing wetter winter conditions, especially in Northern California. But in a weak El Niño, there’s more uncertainty. If California were to see a wet winter this year, it would mark the third wet winter in a row, as both 2022-23 and 2023-24 saw above-normal precipitation. Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist and manager at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab at Donner Summit, says that would be unusual.