Miami Beach coastal flood statement ends; tides back Nov. 23

The coastal flood advisory for coastal Miami-Dade County expired at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. The National Weather Service in Miami had extended it five times since it replaced a coastal flood warning on Oct. 28. In its place is a coastal flood statement, a lower alert for isolated minor flooding, through Wednesday evening. The next king tide window starts Friday, Nov. 6.

The flooding peaked Tuesday, Oct. 27, when the king tide reached major flood stage at the Virginia Key tide gauge. It was the highest water at the gauge since Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Updated Nov. 9: The coastal flood statement for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties expired at 9 a.m. Monday, and the weather service had issued no new coastal hazard message by Monday evening. Monday’s morning high tide at Virginia Key peaked at 3.48 feet at 8:54 a.m., against a predicted 2.76 feet (NOAA station 8723214). The final king tide window of the season is Nov. 23-26; times are in our king tides guide.

Updated Nov. 8: The weather service has extended the coastal flood statement for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties through Monday morning, Nov. 9, in its coastal hazard message at 3:23 p.m. Sunday. It still warns of “some water on low lying roads and property.” Sunday morning’s preliminary reading at Virginia Key peaked at 3.30 feet above mean lower low water at 8:12 a.m., about half a foot above the predicted 2.78 feet (NOAA station 8723214). The last high tides of this window are predicted for 8:05 p.m. Sunday and 8:42 a.m. Monday. The final king tide window of the season is Nov. 23-26; times are in our king tides guide.

Updated Nov. 6: The weather service has extended the coastal flood statement for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties through Sunday evening, Nov. 8, in its coastal hazard message at 10:16 a.m. Friday. It warns of “some water on low lying roads and property” around high tide. Friday morning’s preliminary reading at Virginia Key peaked at 3.65 feet above mean lower low water at 6:42 a.m., about 0.9 feet above the predicted 2.74 feet (NOAA station 8723214). The remaining high tides are at 6:38 p.m. Friday, 7:14 a.m. and 7:22 p.m. Saturday and 7:59 a.m. and 8:05 p.m. Sunday. The king tide window runs through Monday, Nov. 9; times are in our king tides guide.

Updated Nov. 5: The weather service has extended the coastal flood statement for isolated minor flooding around high tide through Friday evening, Nov. 6, in its coastal hazard message at 10:12 a.m. Thursday. Thursday’s preliminary readings at Virginia Key peaked at 3.69 feet above mean lower low water at 5:54 a.m. and 3.53 feet at 6 p.m., about a foot above the predicted tides of 2.67 and 2.61 feet (NOAA station 8723214). Friday’s high tides are at 6:26 a.m. and 6:38 p.m. Peak times for the Nov. 6-9 king tides are in our king tides guide.

Updated Nov. 4: The advisory expired at 7 p.m. Tuesday and a coastal flood statement runs through Wednesday evening. The high rip current risk for coastal Miami-Dade ended at 10 a.m. Wednesday. This story now has Tuesday’s and Wednesday morning’s readings and Wednesday’s high tide.

Updated Nov. 2, evening: The weather service extended the advisory to 7 p.m. Tuesday. The flood watch, extended to 7 p.m. Monday, has ended. This story now has Monday’s readings and Tuesday’s high tide times.

Updated Nov. 1, evening: The weather service extended the advisory to 7 p.m. Monday and issued a flood watch for 3 to 5 inches of rain. This story now has Sunday’s readings and Monday’s high tide time.

Updated Oct. 31, evening: The weather service extended the advisory again, to 7 p.m. Sunday. This story now has Saturday’s readings and Sunday’s high tide time.

Updated Oct. 31: The weather service extended the advisory through Saturday, Halloween. This story now has the readings for Thursday and Friday and Saturday’s high tide time.

Updated Oct. 28: The warning was extended through Wednesday and expired at 8 p.m. Wednesday. This story now has the readings for Monday to Wednesday and Thursday’s peak time. It was first published Sunday, Oct. 25.

What the weather service says now

The National Weather Service in Miami first issued the advisory at 7:54 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, for coastal Miami-Dade and coastal Broward counties. At 7:01 p.m. Tuesday it said the advisory had expired and issued a coastal flood statement for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties through Wednesday evening.

Its statement at 3:23 a.m. Wednesday expects “isolated minor coastal flooding,” with “some water on low lying roads and property.” It said minor flooding is possible within 1.5 to 2 hours of high tide.

The warning it replaced had been in force since 2 a.m. Monday. On Tuesday the weather service extended it by a day. That warning said “numerous roads may be closed” and that low-lying homes, businesses and some critical infrastructure “will be inundated.”

The high rip current risk for coastal Miami-Dade, in force since 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, ended at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The weather service had said rip currents “can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water.”

Heavy rain on top of the tide

The weather service also issued a flood watch at 12:49 p.m. Sunday for all of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. On Monday it extended the watch to 7 p.m., and it then ended. Its last statement, at 6:21 p.m. Monday, said heavy rain “resulted in localized flash flooding on Sunday and earlier today.”

At Miami International Airport, about 10 miles west, the weather service recorded 1.57 inches of rain Sunday and a trace on Monday through 4 p.m.

When it was issued, the watch said:

• scattered spots along the east coast may get 3 to 5 inches of rain through Monday
• isolated spots may see 5 to 7 inches, and that rain may fall over a few hours
• the main impact would be street flooding and road closures
• impacts “could be greater than forecast if the heaviest rainfall occurs near the coast during times of high tide”

The weather service said uncertainty is high about exactly where the heaviest rain will fall.

How high the water got

The tide gauge on Virginia Key, just south of Miami Beach, measured 2.54 feet above the average daily high tide at 10:18 a.m. Tuesday. NOAA had predicted 0.74 feet for that tide. On Wednesday the gauge peaked at 2.51 feet at 11:12 a.m., against a prediction of 0.70 feet.

The water then eased but stayed in moderate flood stage. Thursday’s peak was 2.19 feet at 12:06 p.m., and Friday’s was 2.05 feet just after midnight. Saturday’s highest was 1.91 feet at 1 a.m. The afternoon tide reached 1.73 feet at 2 p.m., still just inside moderate flood stage.

On Sunday the water peaked in minor flood stage, below the moderate level it reached every day from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31. The overnight tide peaked at 1.64 feet at 1:12 a.m., and the afternoon tide at 1.56 feet at 2:18 p.m.

Monday was similar. The overnight tide peaked at 1.67 feet at 2:24 a.m., just short of moderate flood stage, and the afternoon tide at 1.51 feet at 2:42 p.m.

The water kept falling. On Tuesday the overnight tide peaked at 1.40 feet at 3:42 a.m., in minor flood stage. The afternoon tide reached 1.27 feet at 3:54 p.m., just below minor flood stage. Wednesday’s overnight tide peaked at 1.34 feet at 4:42 a.m.

Both readings passed the 2.5-foot major flood stage that the National Water Prediction Service sets for the gauge. Its other stages are:

• Minor: 1.3 feet
• Moderate: 1.7 feet

The figures are NOAA’s preliminary readings for station 8723214 and may still be revised.

NOAA’s monthly records for the gauge begin in 1994. Only two months show a higher top reading than Tuesday’s: September 2017, when Hurricane Irma passed, at 3.57 feet, and October 2005, when Hurricane Wilma struck, at 2.55 feet. Tuesday’s tide came with no hurricane. A strong northeast wind and the year’s highest tides did it.

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Every day from Oct. 22 to Oct. 31 reached moderate flood stage at the gauge. Sunday, Nov. 1, was the first day back below it, and every day since has stayed below it.

Wednesday’s high tide and the next king tides

The next high tide at Virginia Key is predicted for 5:01 p.m. Wednesday, at 0.34 feet, from NOAA’s tide predictions. That is the tide alone. On Wednesday morning the water still ran about 1 foot above the tables.

The tides then build toward the next king tide window, Friday, Nov. 6, to Monday, Nov. 9. Peak times are in our king tides guide. Water can stay high for 1.5 to 2 hours on either side of each peak, the city says.

The city’s first king tide window ended Friday, Oct. 30. The next windows are Nov. 6-9 and Nov. 23-26.

Why the tides are higher than forecast

The tide tables cover the moon and the sun only. A strong northeast wind piled extra water against the coast in late October.

On Sunday, Oct. 25, the weather service issued a gale warning for Biscayne Bay and the nearby Atlantic waters through Tuesday. It forecast northeast winds of 20 to 25 knots, about 23 to 29 mph, with frequent gale-force gusts.

What the city says

The city had not posted a news release about the flooding on its newsroom by Wednesday evening. Its king tides page now gives the season’s first window as Oct. 22-30, two days earlier than the Oct. 24 start it listed earlier this month.

The city’s Parking Flood Relief Program lets registered residents on low streets park free in garages G1 (200 7th St.), G9 (1661 Pennsylvania Ave.) and G6 (400 W. 42nd St.) while a city flood notification is active. Registered users get the notice by email. We could not confirm which streets the city closed this week from a city notice.

What it means for you

• Watch the 5:01 p.m. high tide Wednesday if your street floods easily. The weather service expects only isolated minor flooding.
• Plan for the king tides Friday, Nov. 6, to Monday, Nov. 9, with morning peaks between about 6:30 and 8:45 a.m.
• Do not drive through standing water. The weather service said: “do not drive around barricades or through water of unknown depth.” Salt water damages cars; rinse the underside if you drove through it.
• Swim only near a lifeguard. The high rip current risk has ended, but rip currents are always possible.
• Boaters: high water lowers bridge clearance.
• Road updates: text MBTraffic to 888777.
• Report flooding that blocks a street or damages property to the Public Works control room at 305-673-7625 or flooding@miamibeachfl.gov.
• Parking questions: the Parking Flood Relief line is 305-673-7505.

Our king tides guide has the November dates and peak times. For closures already planned, see our road construction and closures page. Waterfront owners can read about the city’s seawall grant program.