King tide, bad weather bring rough conditions to Hilton Head beaches
As South Carolina heads into a cool, stormy weekend, Hilton Head’s beaches are feeling the heat.
A high surf advisory and a king tide are making beaches difficult to access at different times of the day and delaying Hilton Head’s $47 billion beach renourishment.
According to the National Weather Service office in Charleston, a coastal flood warning is in effect for Charleston and Colleton counties, meaning that sea water is flowing over sand dunes and sea wall. Beaufort County is under a coastal flood advisory, a less serious designation than a warning.
This warning comes as the region experiences a king tide, or an unusually high tide resulting from the specific alignment of the sun, moon and earth. The high tide at Fort Pulaski is expected to reach 10 feet on Friday; moderate flooding, which affects some structures and roads near water, happens when the tide reaches 10 feet at the Fort Pulaski tide gauge.
Shore Beach Services, which provides lifeguarding services to Hilton Head, is currently flying red flags and instructing people to not enter the water because of a high rip current advisory.
Shore Beach Services typically likes to get lifeguards on their stands at 9 a.m., but guards had to wait until 10 a.m. Friday because of the high tide. On Friday morning, Mike Wager, director of Shore Beach Services, said lifeguards were avoiding certain parts of the beach out of concern that high tide would prevent them from reaching certain areas.
These conditions typically hit Hilton Head beaches a couple times a year, Wagner said, generally in the spring and fall.
“I think this one’s just kind of coupled with some wind conditions that are making it worse than usual,” Wagner said.
The high tide also introduces delays when lifeguards need to move vehicles across the beach to provide any assistance, Wagner said.
The spell of bad weather also comes as Hilton Head continues to embark upon its beach renourishment project.
Town spokesperson Heather Woolwine said that Marinex Construction, the town’s contractor for the beach renourishment project, finished pumping sand onto Fish Haul Beach. Given the weather, there is now a delay in flattening and shaping the sand, and work will likely be completed in late October instead of this week.
The contractor has also delayed pumping any sand until Sunday given the current rough conditions out on the water. The rough surf makes it dangerous to operate the barge that moves sand from the ocean floor to the beaches.
“We’re at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Woolwine said.
