NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The coast here is in for another hard week. A coastal flood warning from the National Weather Service covers Orange County from Sunday morning to Thursday afternoon. The highest water is expected at morning high tide, Monday to Thursday.
In Newport Beach, the numbers are the worry. Officials expect tides of at least 6 feet starting Monday, with levels possibly climbing above 8 feet. Adjusted forecasts cited for the city put the peak at 8.3 feet Monday morning, 8.5 feet Tuesday and 8.4 feet Wednesday.
Water has been running 18 to 22 inches higher than the predicted astronomical tides, according to city officials. On the Balboa Peninsula, that gap is not academic. Streets there flooded earlier this month, and residents had to scramble to keep water out of their homes.
Newport Beach has declared a local emergency. The emergency operations center is open and staffed. Nor is the city starting from scratch on sand: a contract approved Oct. 19, worth about $1.5 million, pays to haul sand — an estimated 100,000 cubic yards of it — out of the Santa Ana River mouth and onto beaches between 36th and 62nd streets. Work began Oct. 21. Crews at the Wedge are also building protective berms with sand brought in from the Prado Dam area near Norco.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said county crews have been clearing debris from gutters and flood channels ahead of the tides.
Dave Munyan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, pointed to warmer ocean water and shifting Pacific conditions linked to El Niño. “From a multitude of factors — one being the warmer sea surface temperatures we’re seeing off the coast contributing to a thermal expansion of the water,” Munyan said.
San Diego County sits under the same warning, according to USA TODAY. Tides there may top 7.5 feet, and low-lying property is expected to go under. Farther north, Los Angeles and Ventura counties are under advisories, not warnings. Parking lots, bike paths and walkways along the beach could flood there.
Trains will feel it too. For riders, the cutoff starts Monday: Metrolink will end its Orange County Line trains at Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo all week, through Friday, Oct. 30, instead of continuing down the coast to San Clemente and Oceanside. There will be no replacement bus service.
“It also reduces cascading effects that happen to the rest of the Metrolink system north of Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo. It also provides greater flexibility for Amtrak and freight trains to navigate any weather-related restrictions or delays that will happen next week,” Metrolink public relations manager Brett Hawkins said.
Pacific Surfliner riders face a slower trip. Amtrak says its trains between the San Clemente Pier and Oceanside may run about 30 minutes behind through Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Officials are asking people to follow local alerts, watch for closed roads, and stay out of floodwater — never drive around a barricade to get through it.
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