Major Coastal Flooding Will Likely Repeat at the High Tide Overnight into Early Friday Morning
• Prolonged strong north-northeasterly winds earlier this week offshore the Atlantic shores of Florida and the Southeastern United States combined with the very recent full moon phase “spring tide” cycle, with additional effects from approaching lunar perigee (closest distance between the earth and moon in the lunar orbit) on October 28th, will maintain unusually high water levels throughout the end of the week.
o Coastal Flood Warnings remain in effect for all of the Florida Keys of Monroe County
o Continuation of periodic major saltwater flooding of low elevation streets, parking lots, yards, and the overtopping of docks will likely be observed again the next few tide cycles. Streets where king tide flooding is normally observed each autumn are likely to become impassable to smaller vehicles for several hours around the published times of high tide. Low elevation residences and businesses where access and parking are frequently impacted by annual king tide flooding may experience water intrusion and several inches of flooding.
o For the Upper Florida Keys Florida Bayside, water levels to oscillate by several inches, but average through tonight than what was observed this morning. Peak tide levels are only expected to fall a couple inches each day beginning later Friday and this weekend. Minor to moderate flooding is likely to continue throughout next week.
o For the Middle and Lower Florida Keys, plan for water levels late this evening through the predawn hours Friday to reach within an inch or so (either way) of levels observed late Wednesday evening and early this morning.
While peak overnight high tides will begin to lower at least 2 or 3 inches each late night/predawn hours beginning with Friday night, the afternoon second published/predicted high tide will gradually rise as we work toward the quarter moon phase. This will likely continue the temporary mid-to-late afternoon flooding observed in the Lower and Middle Keys repeating through the upcoming weekend.
For additional information on Coastal (Saltwater) Flooding in the Florida Keys, please view Coastal Flooding & the Florida Keys webpage: