How King Tides Help Us Prepare for the Future
In January, we had an amazing Coffee and King Tides event at Cooley Landing in East Palo Alto! We had a great time connecting with community members to learn more about king tides and future coastal impacts.
Special thanks to Climate Resilient Communities, Midpeninsula Open Space, Grassroots Ecology, Nuestra Casa, the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District, and the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority for coming together to put on this event. Events like this give us the opportunity to observe king tides firsthand, and watching the water sit higher than usual motivates us to come together for thoughtful, community-driven resilience planning.
What Are King Tides?
King tides are the highest high tides of the year, occurring once or twice annually in winter. These events give us a glimpse into the future and let us experience how our coastline will be impacted by increased sea levels. In the Bay Area, sea levels have risen by 8 inches in the last century, but the pace is accelerating, now rising by about 0.9 inches every ten years.
The King Tides in January 2026 were exceptionally high, reaching over 7 feet in many parts of San Mateo County. The combination of an atmospheric river, king tides, surging waves, and higher sea levels due to climate change caused record flooding, impacting low-lying shoreline areas including Miramar Beach Road on the Coastside, Pacifica, and Half Moon Bay. Trails in Millbrae were inundated, and Bayside communities such as East Palo Alto and Redwood City also experienced significant impacts.
By 2100, tides could be three to six feet above those levels, which would reshape our shoreline and increase flood risks for many communities. Flooding impacts, like many other climate change impacts, are not felt equally. Communities with fewer resources often have less capacity to recover from repeated flood events, making proactive planning and equitable adaptation strategies essential.
Source: 2018 San Mateo County Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment
Check out more King Tides photos from 2025-2026.
At the Coffee and King Tides event, some East Palo Alto residents shared their lived experiences with flooding. One man who lives just two blocks from the shoreline described the feeling of uncertainty that has grown since he first learned about sea level rise. When major storms happen, he worries that his neighborhood won’t be able to handle the dramatic changes. While he was pleased to learn about San Mateo County’s sea level rise resilience planning efforts, he knows there is definitely more work to be done.
For residents in low-lying neighborhoods, King Tides and sea level rise are not just concepts, they are a lived reality. Concerns about property damage, access to roads, and long-term displacement are deeply personal, and these conversations highlight why community voices are integral to resilience planning.
Planning and Building Resilience in San Mateo County
The good news is that there is a lot we can do to protect our people and resources from sea level rise! It all starts with strategic planning and envisioning solutions to increase resilience. The County is actively planning for three to six feet of sea level rise by 2100 by including resilience policies in the County’s Safety Element of the General Plan. This plan defines how the County will address natural hazards and will include resilience measures to address sea level rise, flooding, groundwater rise, and other climate impacts. The draft Safety Element is posted for public comment, and community members are encouraged to participate.
In addition, in 2020 the County of San Mateo and all twenty cities formed OneShoreline to plan for and build resilience to sea level rise, flooding, and coastal erosion on a regional scale. On the Coastside, the City of Half Moon Bay has a draft Climate Adaptation Plan, and the County is working on Plan Princeton to identify effective strategies for protecting the community from sea level rise. Climate Resilient Communities, who hosted the Coffee and King Tides event, has also been involved in the Peninsula Resilience Planning (PREP) Project, helping to ensure that community-centered safety policies are included. They also support local involvement through Neighborhood Climate Change Teams — community groups that residents can join to take part in climate action at the neighborhood level.
While events like King Tides can make the future seem daunting, they also offer clarity about the work ahead. By planning now and envisioning solutions together, we can increase resilience for our people and our resources. We encourage you to get involved and help shape how our County prepares for sea level rise:
- Neighborhood Climate Change Teams
- Public Meetings – OneShoreline
- Safety Element public comment process
To learn more about sea level rise and how San Mateo County is preparing for the future, visit sustainsmc.org/sealevelrise.
