Coastal Flood — Cameron Island, Texas

2022-11-18 to 2022-11-21 · Cameron Island, Texas

Event narrative

A 1.6 foot storm tide, as observed by the Texas Coastal Ocean Observing Network (TCOON) site at South Padre Island Brazos Santiago (BZST2), affected South Padre Island the weekend of November 19th and 20th. The storm tide remained between 1.25-foot and 1.6-foot the entire time. This led to the closer of area beaches the weekend before Thanksgiving and also caused significant beach erosion. Pictures shared with an NWS Employee from the Cameron County Beach Patrol showed water covering the northern portions of Highway 100, which is beyond the dunes. Additional beach erosion was observed November 21st through November 24th, but no water on the roadways or road closures due to water were reported.

Wider weather episode

The combination of a strong area of high pressure across the Mid-South and a coastal trough that developed into a coastal low led to widespread beach erosion and minor coastal flooding along South Padre Island the weekend of November 19th through November 21st. Residual swells led to minor beach erosion through November 24th. Winds gusting to 45 knots created wave heights at Buoy 42020 of nearly 20 feet the evening of November 19th. The long duration of the northeasterly winds led to multiple rounds of coastal flooding starting November 19th and continued through November 24th. This resulted in the County Beach Access Points being closed for several days along with water reaching Highway 100 on South Padre Island and overtopping Highway 4 near SpaceX and Boca Chica Beach.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1061907. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.