The sea level along California’s coast will increase by about a foot by mid-October due to the influence of El Niño, which is driving a large volume of water northward from offshore of Mexico and Central America. This water is coming in the form of a coastal “Kelvin wave,” and it will mark the arrival of one of the first significant impacts of the powerhouse El Niño taking shape in the tropical Pacific. … Patrick Barnard, research director at the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said the ocean height increase puts many coastal residents at risk of flooding. “Because so many of our communities are built right at sea level on the West Coast, and our extreme water levels don’t vary widely, every 2 to 4 inches of sea level doubles our flood risk,” Barnard said.

Other El Niño news:

• Public Policy Institute of California: Blog: Supercharged sea levels this winter will forecast the future