New York, Boston Face Coastal Flooding Without a Storm in Sight

(Bloomberg) -- The stars -- or at least the sun and the moon -- have aligned in just the right way to trigger coastal flooding this weekend from New Jersey to Massachusetts, including New York Harbor.

There are no nor’easters, hurricanes or other severe weather bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, but tides may be pulled a foot (30 centimeters) above normal in many places late Friday and early Saturday, sending the Atlantic onto roads and into vulnerable basements. The highest tides happen when the Earth, moon and sun line up and the gravitational pull on the oceans is at its peak.

National Weather Service advisories show that there’s no significant threat to life or property this weekend. But these extra-high tides are becoming more common, with both Boston and New York setting records in the year ended in April, according to a U.S. Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services report issued last week. It attributed the higher tides to rising sea levels because of melting ice and warming oceans.

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