SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – This past week, the primary weather story was the elevated tides, which persisted from Wednesday through Sunday. The highest tides occurred on Thursday and Saturday mornings, both reaching moderate flood stage at Fort Pulaski. Meanwhile, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday mornings saw minor flood stages.
In fact, Thursday morning's high tide of 10.25 feet cracked the top 10 highest tide crests on record.
On both Thursday and Friday mornings, Highway 80 was briefly closed due to water covering the road, affecting travel to and from Tybee Island. This closure, a common occurrence for locals during periods of high tide, lasted just a few minutes on Thursday and about 20 minutes on Saturday.
The elevated tides were primarily driven by the full supermoon, which occurred Friday night into Saturday. However, the highest tide was observed on Thursday, just before the moon reached its full phase.
This was likely influenced by a strong northeasterly wind on Thursday, which pushed water closer to the shoreline, contributing to the moderate flooding. On Saturday, the wind shifted to a northerly, even northwesterly direction, which did not have the same effect on the tides, resulting in slightly lower water levels.
Looking ahead, we can expect tides to return to normal levels this week, as there will be no supermoon and no strong northeasterly winds to elevate them.