Some of the highest tides of the year are expected along the Central Coast next week and could coincide with a storm system headed our way. This has the potential to create localized flooding in our area during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The exceptionally high sea levels are called King Tides and they happen seasonally. During Thanksgiving week, they'll hit on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is right around the same time the National Weather Service predicts possible showers.
Jenna Driscoll is with Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper and said when timing coincides with a storm surge, her group can study the effects.
"So then you get high tides combined with large swell, significant wave action," said Driscoll. "These are good times to be able to look and see how we expect sea level rise to impact our shores in the future."
The California King Tides Projectwill host an informational session on Tuesday morning at Santa Barbara's East Beach, adjacent to Mission Creek Estuary.
Another set of King Tides will arrive in the days leading up to Christmas.