Despite sun and clear skies, in the old Port this weekend, some rolled up their pants or donned rain boots to wade through eight inches of water to grab lunch near Commercial Street on the Portland Pier.
This weekend high tides were roughly one and a half to two feet higher than average. This part of Portland, and other salt marshes, beaches and areas along Maine's coast can expect to see more instances of 'blue sky flooding' this fall, and in the coming years. It's due in part to the effects of climate change, like changing current patterns from a warming ocean.
"We're seeing an increase in the frequency of these predicted high tide flood events, in part due to sea level rise," said Gayle Bowness, Municipal Climate Action Program Manager at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. "They're not just increasing in the frequency of events, but also the depth of the flood, or extent of the flooding that we're experiencing."
Blue-sky flooding, sometimes called 'nuisance flooding,' can happen when there aren't any storm surges or other inclement weather. Abnormally high tides can cause several inches or even feet of water to seep into streets at sea level.
Bowness said one easy thing to do is to start checking the tides every day.
"For fishermen, they're probably checking the tides just as frequently as they're checking the weather. That's how they know that how they're going to need to operate around their working waterfront infrastructure," she said. "For those of us who live in coastal communities or want to come down and visit or plan a trip to the beach, you just check the tides that day to know which areas are going to be accessible, where it's safe to park, which roads might be flooded, or if you're even going to find sand to put your beach blanket on."
It's also important to keep an eye on the tides this winter to see where King tides might combine with storm surges to cause dangerous flooding, Bowness said.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute is asking Mainers to report instances of flooding to the community science project on its website, which is aimed at tracking which areas need to plan for resilience measures.
Maine Public’s Climate Desk is made possible by Androscoggin bank, with additional support from Evergreen Home Performance, Bigelow Laboratory, & Lee Auto Malls.