Coastal flooding, rip currents to continue battering southeastern Atlantic coast
By
Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Oct 19, 2020 7:03 AM EST
A shift in the weather pattern across the southeastern United States and a tidal phenomenon that only occurs a handful of times each year are teaming up to bring adverse conditions to the southeastern Atlantic coast through the end of the week.
The combination of these two aforementioned factors will bring daily chances for coastal flooding and an increased rip current risk for the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and eastern Florida.
Coastal flooding began to impact portions of the Florida coast, including the Florida Keys, on Sunday. Many roadways adjacent to the coast in Key West, Florida, experienced ponding or all-out flooding.
Coastal flooding concerns will continue into the end of the week along the southeastern Atlantic coast as onshore winds persist.
When a wind direction is described as "onshore" it means that the wind blows from the direction of the ocean toward the direction of land.
“These gusty onshore winds will be able to force seawater farther inland, which could cause the potential for coastal flooding and beach erosion, especially during high tide,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Sadvary said.
A slew of coastal advisories remain in effect across the region due to the churned up waters.
At the coast, frequent wind gusts of 20-30 mph will be likely throughout the week.
Gusty showers and thunderstorms will also sweep from east to west across the Sunshine State. From Monday night to Tuesday night, radar estimates showed that between 5-6 inches of rain fell across the Keys.
The impacts of these strong onshore winds will be enhanced by a tidal phenomenon known as perigean spring tides.
Tides are the regular rise and fall of the surface of the sea as a result of the gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun and their position relative to the Earth. High tides and low tides occur at regular intervals each day; however, certain events involving full or new moons can lead to abnormally high or low tides.
During a full or new moon, the Earth, sun and the moon are in close alignment. This pulls on the surface of the sea slightly more than other times during the month. A new moon occurred on Oct. 16.
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Many residents across the southeastern coast of the United States have likely heard of spring tides or "King Tides" which occur twice each lunar month, but have nothing to do with the season of spring or royalty. Spring tides coincide with both a full and a new moon.
A few times per year, spring tides develop as the moon takes its closest approach to the Earth, known as perigee. When this happens, a perigean spring tide takes shape and becomes even more powerful than typical spring tides. Perigean spring tides only occur six to eight times per year, according to the National Ocean Service (NOS).
Coupled with gusty onshore winds, high tides during the perigean spring tide this week are expected to rise several feet above normal for much of the Florida coast, leading to coastal flooding.
For many locations along the eastern coastline of Florida during high tide, the amount of water level rising above ground that is normally dry will be between 2.0 and 2.5 feet, with locally higher levels possible. For the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, that number will be in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 feet.
Locations that are at, or just slightly above sea level, will likely have to deal with a rush of water over typically dry areas. As a result of this water level rise, some roads can become impassible and properties that are prone to flooding will likely experience issues.
Residents of areas impacted by flooding should remember to never attempt to drive through flooded roadways as the decision to do so could turn deadly.
Rough seas will play a major factor in the viability of marine activities this week, especially for smaller craft.
High pressure will begin to weaken and shift eastward away from the eastern U.S. into this weekend, thereby allowing onshore winds to weaken across the southeastern Atlantic coast.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Weather Forecasts
Coastal flooding, rip currents to continue battering southeastern Atlantic coast
By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Oct 19, 2020 7:03 AM EST
A shift in the weather pattern across the southeastern United States and a tidal phenomenon that only occurs a handful of times each year are teaming up to bring adverse conditions to the southeastern Atlantic coast through the end of the week.
The combination of these two aforementioned factors will bring daily chances for coastal flooding and an increased rip current risk for the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and eastern Florida.
Coastal flooding began to impact portions of the Florida coast, including the Florida Keys, on Sunday. Many roadways adjacent to the coast in Key West, Florida, experienced ponding or all-out flooding.
Coastal flooding concerns will continue into the end of the week along the southeastern Atlantic coast as onshore winds persist.
When a wind direction is described as "onshore" it means that the wind blows from the direction of the ocean toward the direction of land.
“These gusty onshore winds will be able to force seawater farther inland, which could cause the potential for coastal flooding and beach erosion, especially during high tide,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Sadvary said.
A slew of coastal advisories remain in effect across the region due to the churned up waters.
At the coast, frequent wind gusts of 20-30 mph will be likely throughout the week.
Gusty showers and thunderstorms will also sweep from east to west across the Sunshine State. From Monday night to Tuesday night, radar estimates showed that between 5-6 inches of rain fell across the Keys.
The impacts of these strong onshore winds will be enhanced by a tidal phenomenon known as perigean spring tides.
Tides are the regular rise and fall of the surface of the sea as a result of the gravitational pull of both the moon and the sun and their position relative to the Earth. High tides and low tides occur at regular intervals each day; however, certain events involving full or new moons can lead to abnormally high or low tides.
During a full or new moon, the Earth, sun and the moon are in close alignment. This pulls on the surface of the sea slightly more than other times during the month. A new moon occurred on Oct. 16.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Many residents across the southeastern coast of the United States have likely heard of spring tides or "King Tides" which occur twice each lunar month, but have nothing to do with the season of spring or royalty. Spring tides coincide with both a full and a new moon.
A few times per year, spring tides develop as the moon takes its closest approach to the Earth, known as perigee. When this happens, a perigean spring tide takes shape and becomes even more powerful than typical spring tides. Perigean spring tides only occur six to eight times per year, according to the National Ocean Service (NOS).
Coupled with gusty onshore winds, high tides during the perigean spring tide this week are expected to rise several feet above normal for much of the Florida coast, leading to coastal flooding.
For many locations along the eastern coastline of Florida during high tide, the amount of water level rising above ground that is normally dry will be between 2.0 and 2.5 feet, with locally higher levels possible. For the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, that number will be in the range of 1.0 to 2.0 feet.
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Locations that are at, or just slightly above sea level, will likely have to deal with a rush of water over typically dry areas. As a result of this water level rise, some roads can become impassible and properties that are prone to flooding will likely experience issues.
Residents of areas impacted by flooding should remember to never attempt to drive through flooded roadways as the decision to do so could turn deadly.
Rough seas will play a major factor in the viability of marine activities this week, especially for smaller craft.
High pressure will begin to weaken and shift eastward away from the eastern U.S. into this weekend, thereby allowing onshore winds to weaken across the southeastern Atlantic coast.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo