Marin coastal areas brace for king tides

King tides are coming to the Bay Area, and low-lying, coastal communities in Marin are preparing for potential flooding.

David King, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said coastal communities such as Sausalito would be most impacted by the king tides.

The king tides are expected to last through Thursday night. The highest tides were expected at about 10 p.m. Monday, drawing closer to midnight on each successive night until Thursday.

“Technically, we’re already kind of into it,” King said Monday. “The main impacts and the people that will see it the most are along the shoreline in Marin County.”

Tidal heights are measured in feet above mean and are considered king tides after about 6.5 feet. The National Weather Service forecast king tide heights at 7.03 feet on Monday night; 7.19 feet on Tuesday night; and 7.21 feet on Wednesday night.

“That’s pretty significant,” said Michael McKinley, Sausalito’s emergency services coordinator.

McKinley said officials in Sausalito are particularly concerned about the impacts of flooding and infrastructure damage along Bridgeway and the Highway 101 and Marin City interchange, which is prone to flooding.

His office coordinates the potential threat impact with the National Weather Service and members of the county’s emergency services office.

“Anything we can do to alleviate that, we will,” he said.

McKinley said the last king tide to this expected extent occurred about two weeks ago. Coastal businesses often use barricades to protect from flooding, he said, noting the city also plans to post flooding and saltwater notices on streets that might experience flooding.

Loren Umbertis, a Sausalito public works official, said Gate 5 Road is expected to have flooding that will impact traffic.

She said city staff would monitor storm drainage systems and will address issues as they arise. Sand and bags are available at the city corporation yard, she said.

Patrick Kerslake, Tiburon’s public works superintendent, said areas such as the intersection of Tiburon Boulevard and Beach Road, and unincorporated Tiburon on Greenwood Cove Road, often experience nuisance flooding.

Kerslake said the town has signs ready for deployment, if needed.

“We’re in pretty good shape here,” he said.

King tides are linked to the gravitational pull between the earth and the moon, and they result in the lowest low tides and the highest high tides, said King, the meteorologist.

During the next week, the moon will be relatively to the Earth in its elliptical orbit, while the Earth will be closest to the sun in its own elliptical orbit.

“The way everything is lining up right, it’s close enough,” King said.