Seal Beach Stays Dry While King Tides Cause Minor Flooding in Sunset

An astronomical high tide and overnight rain caused flooding in some low-lying Orange County communities including Newport Beach and Sunset Beach, but the berm in Seal Beach manged to keep the water at bay.

A "king" tide, or high-tide coinciding with the new moon, crested about 8:15 a.m., flooding a section of Pacific Coast Highway near Park Avenue in Sunset Beach. The road was briefly closed on PCH where sea water spilled over. The flooding did not cause any major problems, according to Huntington Beach Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Lopez.

A sand berm in Seal Beach helped keep water out of some oceanfront homes, Joe Bailey, the city's marine safety chief, said.

"We're all good. We were unaffected by the high tide and rain," he said.   

More rain is forecast toward Southern California Friday night, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Cynthia Palmer.

"This will be a much faster-moving system than the current one," Palmer said. "We shouldn't see quite as much rain, but we'll get a nice little soaking from it."

Temperatures are also running about 10 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year, a trend that should continue through the weekend, Palmer said. Normal highs are 66 and 46.

About a half-inch rain fell overnight in most Orange County spots.

This morning's high tide was the highest, or one of the highest, year. Such tides, coinciding with a full or new moon, are informally known as king tides.

The King tides caused flooding in Newport Beach at 42nd Street and River Avenue and at 26th Street and Newport Boulevard, a section of which was closed briefly, Newport Beach spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said.

Finnigan said there were no reports of property damage.

"We've got pumps out there, and the streets are looking much better," Finnigan said.

-City News Service