King tides return after disastrous week of flooding on the Oregon Coast

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A week after Tillamook County saw its highest flood levels since 2017, the king tides are forecast to return to the Pacific Northwest on Dec. 13, bringing an increased risk of coastal flooding for the Oregon and Washington Coasts.

The Pacific Northwest was hit with a powerful atmospheric river between Dec. 3 and Dec. 6, flooding the region’s rivers and causing millions of dollars in damage to the local infrastructure. Luckily, the storm didn’t occur at the same time as a seasonal king tides, Meteorologist Noah Alviz with Portland’s National Weather Service office told KOIN 6 News, or the flooding could have been more severe.

“Absolutely, if we had the strong atmospheric river last week at the same time as the kind tides, we definitely would have had an increased chance of coastal flooding,” Alviz said.

Local rivers will continue to die down after last week’s major storm, Alvis said. However, the most at-risk areas for coastal flooding will come close to seeing some tidal flooding this week. Tide levels in Toke Point, Wash. and Tongue Point in Astoria are both forecast to come within a foot of tidal flooding levels between Dec. 13 and 15.

“It is getting close to where we could have concerns for coastal flooding but it’s marginal right now considering the next [storm] system we have coming Wednesday and Thursday is not very robust,” Alviz said.

King tides, which are the highest tides of the year, annually swamp the Pacific Northwest coastline on varying dates between November and February. Regions of the West Coast with the greatest risk of coastal flooding include Friday Harbor, Wash., Port Angeles, Wash., Toke Point, Wash., South Beach, Ore. and Humboldt Bay, Calif.

Oregon’s 2023-2024 forecasted king tide dates:

• November 25 – 27, 2023
• December 13 – 15, 2023
• January 11 – 13, 2024
• February 8-10, 2024