Exceptionally high tides will swamp California. Here's when

Key Points:

• Exceptionally high tides, driven by a rare lunar alignment, El Niño, and record-warm ocean waters, are expected to cause significant coastal flooding and beach erosion in Southern California starting Sunday and lasting through Thursday.
• The National Weather Service has issued coastal flood warnings for San Diego and Orange counties and advisories for Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, with potential inundation of homes, businesses, and infrastructure.
• Elevated sea levels, exacerbated by hotter ocean temperatures and rising tides, could break modern records, with tides possibly exceeding 8 feet above baseline in some areas, threatening already vulnerable locations like Newport Beach and Long Beach.
• Local authorities are actively preparing by reinforcing sand berms, installing sandbags, moving sand to eroded beaches, and closing vulnerable roadways, while public transportation services like Metrolink are suspending operations in affected regions.
• The coastal flooding risk is expected to continue and possibly worsen around upcoming holidays, especially if high tides coincide with strong winter storms, underscoring the ongoing challenges posed by climate change and natural tidal cycles.