Alleys and parking lots at Seal Beach were underwater Thursday morning, and the calm Pacific Ocean lapped below pricey beachfront houses Thursday in Malibu, as the normal highest tides of the lunar cycle were even higher than normal, the National Weather Service said.
Pictures were floating on the Internet of the Venice canals, with water nearly overflowing footbridges. No damage to homes was reported.
The executive director of the California Coastal Commission warned last week that these high tides should alert Californians as to where global warning will take seawater as a matter of course soon.
“The extremes of today will become the normal of tomorrow,” said the Coastal Commission’s Charles Lester in a statement to reporters.
High tides have been topping out as much as one foot higher than usual along the Santa Monica Bay, NWS forecasters said. That turned a high tide forecast at 7.0 feet above normal sea level into an 8.0 tide.
But the surf today was almost non-existent, as swells were minimal and winds were calm as the high tide rolled in in the 8 a.m. hour.
For the fourth day, the NWS forecast the possibility of minor tidal Friday.
The Beach Hazards Statement said parking lots could flood, and strong, unusual currents could form along the coast. And the sand erosion observed on some beaches could continue.
Friday’s high tide was predicted to crest at 7.5 feet at Santa Monica, at 9:20 a.m.
Los Angeles County firefighters reported no flooding from today’s high tide, which peaked at about 8:15 a.m.
—City News Service