7+ Foot King Tides Expected To Batter Beleaguered Laguna Beach

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Beach cities across Southern California are preparing for giant King Tides expected to exacerbate coastal erosion and flood beachfront homes, roads and railways as early as Sunday.

The famous high tides are expected to pass seven feet starting Sunday just before 9 a.m.

The National Weather Service issued a "coastal hazard message" starting from 5 a.m. Sunday through 1 p.m. Thursday, when residents and businesses can be impacted during the high tides.

"Numerous road may be closed. Low-lying property including homes, businesses, and some critical infrastructure will be inundated. Some shoreline erosion will occur in the morning hours," the National Weather Service said. "Coastal residents in the warned area should be alert for rising water and take appropriate action to protect life and property. High tides each day will occur in the morning."

The threat of coastal flooding prompted Metrolink to suspend it’s Orange County Line service between the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo and Oceanside starting Monday through Friday.

Recent high tide events have sent waves crashing over the tracks in San Clemente. Proactively shutting down the service will minimize delays and last-minute cancelations, according to Metrolink.

Coastal water levels are expected to surge starting Monday, Oct. 26, with a predicted height of 6.5 feet and some waves potentially reaching 8.3 feet in Orange and San Diego counties, according to the National Weather Service.

The tides will peak on Tuesday, Oct. 27, reaching a predicted 7.91 feet. The following days, high tides are expected to stick reach a predicted 7.84 feet, according to SurfForecast.

The King Tide conditions may be made worse by a hurricane brewing 425 miles off the coast of Acapulco.

Hurricane Vance rapidly strengthened into a Category 2 storm Friday as it neared Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the National Hurricane Center said.

Vance had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (170 kph) as it churned about 425 miles (685 kilometers) south-southwest of Acapulco, according to an advisory from the Miami-based hurricane center.

As of Friday, it was moving northwest at about 5 mph (8 kph), and this motion is expected to continue through the weekend, approaching the Puerto Vallarta area by Monday.

It’s been an intense hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean, with storms spawning in assembly-line fashion near Hawaii and Mexico as El Niño conditions worsened by global warming create unusual weather, like this week's severe flooding and tornadoes hitting Southern California and the prolonged drought in Central America's Dry Corridor.

Vance would be the seventh major hurricane in a row this year in the Pacific, following Nolo, Odalys, Polo, Rachel, Simon and Trudy. The World Meteorological Organization's Hurricane Committee doesn't use less common names beginning with Q and U.

Beach cities across the SoCal coastline have been preparing extensively for the forecasted weather after prior big waves triggered property damage, flooding, erosion and more.

In Orange County, an entire lane on Pacific Coast Highway — just north of Laguna Beach — was shut down as a result of a massive crack running along the highway's bluff.

The crack is located near Crystal Cove State Park, an unincorporated area of Orange County overseen by Caltrans. According to Caltrans, $4 million dollars has already been cleared to repair the cracking hillside, and crews were working all week to cover the crack with a plastic tarp.

In Newport Beach, a local state of emergency was declared by city officials ahead of the King Tides after previous high tides from Tropical Storm Rachel swamped the Balboa Peninsula with inches of ocean water in October.

The emergency declaration will allow the city to better prepare for a potential tide event and grant access to streamlined resources in the event of an emergency.

In Dana Point, where powerful waves crashed against the coast, almost a dozen oceanfront homes were red-tagged, with some tagged homes on the verge of falling into the sea.

Long Beach saw a surge in property damage and erosion throughout the last bout of hurricane-induced tides. Crews have been racing to rebuild sections of its battered coastline before a new round of flooding hits.

Crews began mobilizing Tuesday for an $11.4 million dredging project that will eventually transfer approximately 415,000 cubic yards of sand from the Alamitos Bay entrance channel to Peninsula Beach, potentially extending the shoreline by about 200 feet. The work follows weeks of emergency repairs, including reinforcing damaged coastal defenses with sandbags, repairing sections of the boardwalk and rebuilding protective berms.

However, the larger replenishment project will take months, leaving the Peninsula vulnerable as the next high tides arrive. The urgency is particularly acute around 64th to 66th Places, where some of the worst destruction has left sections of the boardwalk collapsed and nearby homes dangerously exposed.

City officials have warned that replenishing the beach cannot entirely prevent future erosion, particularly if elevated tides coincide with powerful surf. With additional storms possible this winter, the race to restore the Peninsula's protective shoreline is only beginning.

Associated Press contributed to this report.