King tides are back, and the biggest of the fall peaks around Oct. 28. What Vero Beach homeowners should do.

Some mornings this fall, you may see water where it does not belong. It sits at the edge of a low road, fills a parking lot, or creeps up a storm drain. There is no rain. The sky is blue.

That is a king tide. And according to the National Weather Service office in Melbourne, the strongest king tide window of the fall starts this weekend.

What a king tide is

King tide is not a scientific term. It is the everyday name for the highest predicted tides of the year. The weather service says they usually line up with a full or new moon when the moon is near its closest point to Earth.

Indian River County's beach program explains it the same way: the pull of the sun and the moon lines up, and the tide climbs higher than usual. These tides usually come in the fall. Wind, storms or heavy rain at the same time can push the water even higher.

NOAA calls the result high tide flooding. It also goes by sunny day flooding or nuisance flooding, because it can happen with no storm at all. NOAA says this kind of flooding is now about twice as common in U.S. coastal communities as it was 20 years ago.

The 2026 dates to circle

The National Weather Service in Melbourne lists these king tide windows for East Central Florida. It uses the Port Canaveral tide gauge as its main reference point, so local times and heights along the Indian River Lagoon and at the beach will differ a bit.

• Oct. 9 to 13: already behind us. The peak at Port Canaveral was about 0.83 feet above the normal high-water line on Oct. 11.
• Oct. 24 to Nov. 1: the strongest window. The peak is about 1.28 feet on Wednesday, Oct. 28, around 9:53 a.m.
• Nov. 6 to 11: a smaller window, peaking about 0.73 feet on Nov. 8 and 9.
• Nov. 22 to 29: the second-strongest, peaking about 1.22 feet on Wednesday, Nov. 25, around 7:46 a.m. That is the day before Thanksgiving.
• Dec. 21 to 28: peaking about 0.88 feet on Dec. 24.

Those heights are measured above the average daily high-water mark, not above the ground. The weather service says that on their own, these tides usually cause minor coastal flooding, if any. The risk goes up when a storm surge or heavy rain arrives during a king tide window.

What it can mean in Indian River County

Indian River County lists the impacts it watches for during king tides:

• Erosion of beaches and dunes, which protect roads and buildings and give sea turtles a place to nest.
• Salt water pushed into stormwater systems, yards and freshwater areas.
• Temporary road closures or detours on low-lying routes such as A1A and U.S. 1.
• Storm drains that back up, flooded parking lots and parks, and possible damage to roads and pipes.

The weather service adds high-tide flooding of docks and damage to beach access structures to that list. If you live on the barrier island, along the lagoon, or on a canal, those are the places to keep an eye on.

What to do before Oct. 24

1. Clear the storm drain or grate in front of your house of leaves and grass clippings. The county asks residents to keep drains clear so water has somewhere to go.
2. Walk your yard and dock. Move anything stored low, such as tools, bags of soil, pool chemicals and outdoor cushions, up off the ground or to a higher spot.
3. Look at your dock or seawall at high tide on one of the window days. Note where the water reaches, so you know your own normal and can spot changes later.
4. If your car sits in a low driveway or lot near the water, move it to higher ground on peak mornings.
5. Check the forecast during each window. The weather service says the risk rises when wind, surge or heavy rain lines up with a king tide.

What to do if the water comes up

• Do not drive through a flooded road. Indian River County warns that salt water can damage vehicles, and it is hard to tell how deep it is.
• Stay out of the water. The county advises avoiding contact with floodwater.
• Follow local alerts and road closure notices, as the county recommends.
• Keep pets and kids out of standing water in the street or yard, too.

King tides are not a hurricane. Most of the time they are a soggy morning and a detour. But they are also a free preview. Where the water shows up this fall is where it is likely to show up first when a real storm comes, so take a look and take notes.