West Palm Beach Urges Flood Precautions as King Tides Continue and the City Watches a Super El Niño Pattern

The City of West Palm Beach is encouraging residents and businesses to prepare for the potential impacts of a 'Super El Niño' weather pattern, which could bring above-average rainfall, according to a city release titled 'City Prepares for King Tides - Residents Urged to Take Flood Precautions,' digested in West Palm Now's Morning Notes for Oct. 31 and read in full by this desk. The city's message is preparation, issued while the current king tide cycle is still running.

The immediate backdrop is a week of coastal flooding. The Lake Worth tide gauge peaked at 2.71 feet on Tuesday, past major flood stage, and a coastal flood advisory has run through 8 p.m. Saturday, Halloween, according to West Palm Now's king-tide file read this run. The same flooding forced the cancellation of LagoonFest on the downtown waterfront and closed or damaged coastal facilities elsewhere in the county during the week.

For residents, the practical takeaway is the one the city is pushing: treat flood precautions as a standing habit rather than a storm-only task - know which streets near the Intracoastal and the lagoon flood first at high tide, keep drainage paths clear, and check the city's updates before driving through standing coastal water. With the station's live feed showing a wet Sunday and Monday ahead, the city's preparation message lands in a week when West Palm Beach has already seen what high water can do.