{"id":467667,"date":"2026-09-18T07:02:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467667\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T07:02:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:02:17","slug":"what-are-kelvin-waves-and-what-risk-do-they-pose-to-california-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467667\/","title":{"rendered":"What are Kelvin waves, and what risk do they pose to California this fall?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">What This Story Is About<\/p>\n<p>A massive, slow-moving underwater pulse of warm equatorial water called a Kelvin wave is traveling across the Pacific toward California.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Why It Matters<\/p>\n<p>Because warm water expands, it can temporarily elevate sea levels, increasing high-tide flooding and worsening beach erosion if fall storms hit the California coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">What Happens Next<\/p>\n<p>The wave is projected to reach California\u2019s coast this fall, prompting forecasters and coastal residents to closely monitor local tide levels and surf advisories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">For Context<\/p>\n<p>During an El Ni\u00f1o pattern, typical westward trade winds weaken and reverse into \u201cwesterly wind bursts,\u201d pushing warm surface water eastward over colder deep-sea layers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) &#8211; Something unusual is churning thousands of miles out in the Pacific, and it could bring higher water to California beaches this fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">It\u2019s called a Kelvin wave \u2014 and while it doesn\u2019t look like the crashing waves surfers chase, it packs enough punch to temporarily raise sea levels along the coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening, why it matters and what to expect.<\/p>\n<p>What is a Kelvin wave?<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Think of a Kelvin wave as a massive, slow-moving surge of warm water traveling deep beneath the ocean\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Under normal conditions, Pacific trade winds blow warm water westward toward Asia. But during an El Ni\u00f1o, those winds weaken and periodically flip directions in sudden \u201cwesterly wind bursts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">When that happens, a thick layer of warm surface water gets pushed eastward along the Equator. Because warmer water expands when it sits over colder deep-sea layers, it creates a wide bulge in the ocean surface that glides across the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsmv.com\/page\/our-apps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/WCZWEBRKNJC6BHZCWR4ZBCEHIA.png\"\/><\/a>How does it end up in California?<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Once this warm pulse crosses the Pacific and hits South America, it splits. Part of it turns north, hugging the coastline past Central America and Mexico before arriving in California later this fall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">As that warmer water reaches the shoreline, thermal expansion pushes coastal water levels up higher than standard tide charts predict.<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean for California?Higher tides: Regular high tides may run several inches higher than usual, leading to minor street flooding in low-lying spots.Bigger storm impacts: If a fall or winter storm rolls in while sea levels are already running high, beaches face increased erosion, stronger wave runup, and cliff damage.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WSMV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What This Story Is About A massive, slow-moving underwater pulse of warm equatorial water called a Kelvin wave&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,10648,128740,21659,34092,645,145142],"class_list":["post-467667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-el-nino","tag-kelvin","tag-ocean","tag-pattern","tag-science","tag-waves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}