Los Angeles, California: Coastal Flooding Risk Peaks Monday in Los Angeles and Orange Counties

Coastal flooding risk peaks on Monday, November 9, in Los Angeles and Orange counties, as morning high tides and surf reach their highest point of a multi day event, the National Weather Service said.

A Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect until noon PST on Tuesday, November 10, for Los Angeles County coastal areas, including Catalina Island, and for Orange County coastal areas. The weather service said minor to locally moderate coastal flooding is expected during the morning high tides.

Tides run well above normal

In Los Angeles County, high tides of 7.2 to 7.6 feet are expected each morning through Tuesday. In Orange County, the highest tides were expected late Monday morning, peaking at 7.2 to 7.4 feet, which the National Weather Service office in San Diego said is 1.2 to 1.4 feet above astronomical tide predictions.

"With the daily high tides changing only a little through Tuesday, the risk for coastal flooding will peak when the surf peaks on Monday," the weather service said. A west to northwest swell is expected to bring dangerous swimming conditions, hazardous conditions on rock jetties, dangerous rip currents and breaking waves of 4 to 6 feet on west facing beaches. Orange County could see surf of 4 to 7 feet, which forecasters said could prolong the coastal impacts.

What could flood

In Orange County, forecasters said parking lots and roads could flood, with isolated road closures possible. In Los Angeles County, shallow flooding, beach erosion and flooding of beach parking lots and bike paths remain possible. Motorists were urged not to drive around barricades or through water of unknown depth.

Impacts in Long Beach, Malibu, harbor areas and Naples Island are expected to be less severe than during recent coastal flooding events, because this swell arrives from the west and northwest instead of the south. "While tides will be high, they will not be nearly as high as the record-breaking tides from two weeks ago," the weather service said.

Warm inland, rain later

Away from the water, warm, dry and sunny weather continues through midweek, with temperatures running 10 to 15 degrees above normal in Los Angeles County. Weak Santa Ana winds will continue at times but should stay below advisory levels. Newport Beach reached 84 degrees on Sunday, tying the record high for November 8 set in 1968, according to a preliminary weather service report.

A cooling trend begins on Thursday. Forecasters said rain is likely at some point between Thursday and the following Tuesday, with the most likely window now Sunday through Tuesday, November 15 to 17. The timing and amounts remain uncertain, but a significant storm system could bring periods of heavy rain and storm totals of more than an inch.