Storm Surge/Tide — Coastal Palm Beach County, Florida

2012-10-26 to 2012-10-30 · Coastal Palm Beach County, Florida

Event narrative

A maximum storm tide of 5.2 feet above mean lower low water (MLLW) was observed at Lake Worth Pier on October 28th at 712 AM EDT along with a maximum storm surge of 2.28 feet on October 28th at 236 AM EDT. Similar tide and surge levels were measured at the highest daily high tide during this period, generally between 7 and 9 AM. Large breakers in excess of 15 feet combined with the high tide levels led to major beach erosion and coastal flooding, particularly from central Palm Beach north, including the Manalapan area where beachfront structures were threatened by water intrusion. In all, there was an estimated $14 million in damage sustained in Palm Beach County.

Wider weather episode

Hurricane Sandy moved north across the northwest Bahamas producing tropical storm force winds along the southeast coast of Florida including the adjacent Atlantic waters with significant beach erosion.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 417995. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.