WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — You may have noticed that certain coastal areas and roads are flooded. And if you’re lucky enough to own waterfront property or a permanent dock, it could be underwater, too.
This is due to a spring tide.
Typically, coastal areas experience flooding and high water for a week in each of these autumn months between September and November.
Our tides are largely determined by the moon and the distance between the Earth and the moon.
The moon’s gravitational pull is a tidal force that causes the water masses on Earth to almost lift toward the moon.
WPTV
This becomes even more obvious when we have syzygy. Syzygy is when the Earth, Sun and Moon are in a line. Technically, the Sun has a stronger gravitational pull than the Moon. But because of its greater distance, it has a weaker influence.
WPTV
When the gravitational pull of the sun and moon are combined, the increased attraction causes more extreme tides.
When we have syzygy, we have these spring tides. Spring tides are also called sunny day floods or perigean spring tides.
We will continue to study spring tides through Saturday, September 21. The predicted spring tides will occur again on October 14-22, November 12-19, and December 13-18.
