King tides and super moon could swamp South Florida through Wednesday, forecasters warn

A seasonal king tide boosted by a rare super moon over the weekend may continue to trigger flooding around South Florida through Wednesday, National Weather Service forecasters warned Monday.

High tides were expected to reach three feet or higher along the South Florida coast beginning Monday and continuing through Wednesday and possibly Thursday. That’s expected to trigger some flooding, forecasters said in an advisory Monday. The super moon, making its closest pass to the Earth in nearly seven decades, is amplifying the seasonal king tide.

“We’re going to continue to see above normal high tides through Wednesday,” NWS meteorologist Ian Lee said.

Tide predictions called for high tides of 3.3 feet Monday that will gradually subside by Wednesday. But Lee said it’s too early to tell whether the advisory will be continued. Seasonal king tides normally occur in October and November, but there’s a chance another could occur in December, he said.

“We’ll just have to see how things evolve,” he said.

In recent years, flooding during king tides has grown worse. A University of Miami study found last year that flooding in Miami Beach from tides had increased 400 percent since 2006. Across South Florida, scientists say far more people will be affected by flooding than in previous estimates, which failed to include population growth. They now say about between 1 million and about 6 million Floridians could be impacted by seas projected to rise between 3 and 6 feet by 2100.

This story was originally published November 14, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "King tides and super moon could swamp South Florida through Wednesday, forecasters warn."