King tide in Auckland

Don't mention the unmentionable!! - sea level rise

Tidal floods in Auckland

Bulging king tides disrupted traffic this morning and flooded a cycleway in Auckland

Stuff

2 February, 2014

Low areas of Tamaki Drive on the Waitemata Harbour waterfront were flooded, and traffic had to be directed by police as the high tide came up 3.7m, 0.6m higher than normal, and arrived around 9.15am.

In West Auckland the cycleway that borders the Northwestern Motorway was also flooded.

Traffic was not disrupted.

A beautiful day in Auckland has meant the effects of the king tide were minimised as the high pressure system over the city pushed down on the sea and kept the tides a little lower. A lack of wind also meant the flooding was reduced.

"Had we had any significant wind and lower pressure we would have had some issues," said Richard Wood, manager planning and intelligence for Civil Defence in Auckland.

The flooding subsided with the tide.

Similar flooding is expected with this evening's high tide at 9.40pm and tomorrow morning's tide at 10.07pm.

A king tide occur when the moon is either new or full and closest to the earth in its yearly cycle.