WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — You may have noticed that certain areas near the coast and roadways are flooded. Or, if you’re lucky enough to have waterfront property or a fixed dock, it might be submerged underwater.
This is due to a king tide.
Typically, from September through November, coastal areas experience one week of flooding and high tide concerns each of those fall months.
Our high and low tides are largely driven by the moon and the distance between Earth and the Moon.
The moon’s gravitational pull is a tidal force, which makes Earth’s water bulge in an almost lifting manner toward the Moon.
This is dramatized when we have syzygy. Syzygy is when the Earth, Sun and Moon are in alignment. Technically, the Sun has a stronger gravitational pull than the Moon. But due to its farther distance, it has a weaker impact.
When combining the Sun and Moon’s gravitational force, we have more extreme high and low tides due to the increase in pull.
When we have syzygy, we have these king tides. King tides are also known as sunny-day flooding or perigean spring tides.
We will continue to deal with the king tide through this Saturday, Sept. 21. The predicted king tides will return from Oct. 14 to 22, Nov. 12 to 19, and Dec. 13 to 18.
