California's Coastal Areas to See Unusually High Tides. Here's When and Where

The sounds of crashing waves will be heard along the Southern California coast with flooding possible in some areas.

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Surf's up this weekend. Way up.

Expect unusually high tides and possible minor flooding in some areas through Sunday morning in parts of California. The astronomical tides, also known as King Tides, will occur each morning, followed by very low tides hours later each afternoon, the weather service said.

The peak will be on Saturday.

A beach hazards statement was issued for parts of Southern California during the first weekend of December 2021.

"At the coast, we have abnormally high tides," said NBC4 forecaster Belen De Leon. "This might be good news for surfers. We're expecting the surf to be close to 7 feet. This is going to cause beach erosion. The water is pretty chilly, but if you want to take the bike and ride it along The Strand or get a walk or run in, you'll hear the crashing waves at the coast."

Coastal flood advisories were issued for low-lying areas of the San Francisco Bay shoreline and Humboldt Bay on the north coast.

In Southern California, a beach hazards advisory was issued for portions of the coast along Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties but no significant damage was expected.

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The unusually high tides occur when the moon, Earth and sun come into alignment while the moon is closest to Earth and Earth is closest to the sun, the weather service said.

The California King Tides Project is encouraging anyone near the coast to send in photos of the high tides as part of its effort to increase understanding of what the state will experience as climate change causes sea level to rise.

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