Via the Miami Herald: Miami Beach & Miami prep for Hurricane Dorian during King Tide. Excerpt:
When Hurricane Dorian makes landfall in Florida, current projections show the powerful storm could come ashore during one of the season’s highest tides of the year — a king tide.
Higher tides, combined with the showers already drenching the coast, could worsen coastal flooding for what is shaping up to be a slow, wet storm. The latest update from the National Hurricane Center predicted Dorian will strengthen to a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida before slowing down just as it reaches the coast.
If the storm does park itself offshore, it could dump rain on the region for a while. Current estimates from the NHC suggest Dorian could bring 6 to 12 inches of rain to the southeast coast, with some spots seeing up to fifteen inches.
“We understand this could be a slow-moving storm event. That concerns us. The longer it stays in our area, the more water that will accumulate,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a Thursday morning press conference. “This hurricane is approaching us at a time when we’re experiencing king tides here. That’s making it worse.”
The National Weather Service warned Thursday that this king tide, the second of four expected for the east coast this season., could cause minor tidal inundation during high tide this weekend. Readings from Virginia Key’s tidal gauge show that this tide is already coming in up to eight inches higher than predicted.
Sea level rise has made these annual high tides higher over the decades and dramatically driven up the stakes for municipalities struggling to adjust to climate change. By 2060, South Florida officials are planning on two feet of sea level rise. And that’s not accounting for another of climate change’s deadly impacts, stronger hurricanes.
Although the peak of this king tide is expected on Sunday’s noon high tide, residents in low-lying Miami Beach were already reporting flooded streets on Wednesday and Thursday.
