San Francisco Flood: Heavy Rain, King Tides Impact Bay Area
Here’s a breakdown of the key details from the provided text, focusing on the recent king tides and flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area:
Main Points:
* Unusual Surf Conditions: Surfing in the Bay Area is frequently enough dictated by extreme tidal events – unusually high or low tides, or rapidly changing tides.
* Recent storms & King Tides: A series of storms in December 2025 and January 2026, coinciding with king tides, caused critically important coastal flooding around the San Francisco Bay.
* Record High Tides: San Francisco experienced its highest tide level since 1998 on January 3, 2026, reaching 2.56 feet above the typical peak. this was boosted by 1.28 feet of storm surge.
* New Records Set: Several bay Area cities set new tidal records on January 3rd:
* Martinez: 2.46 feet above normal
* Richmond: 2.67 feet above normal
* Redwood City: 2.7 feet above normal
* Past Context: The all-time high tide in San Francisco was 2.8 feet above normal, recorded in January 1998.
* Impacts: The flooding caused localized issues, including road closures (like on The Embarcadero) and submerged parking lots (like at The spinnaker restaurant in Sausalito).
In essence, the article details how a combination of storms and king tides led to record-breaking high tides and flooding in the san Francisco Bay Area in early January 2026.