Unusually high tides and warm Pacific waters submerged roads and trails just north of San Francisco, leaving drivers stranded and turning a popular bike path into an impromptu waterway.
Kayakers paddle through floodwaters beneath a highway overpass in Marin County, California, as unusually high tides inundated roads and bike paths in October 2026. (Photo: Courtesy of California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services)
Published October 28, 2026 03:59PM
Kayakers floated along a flooded bike path in Northern California earlier this week after unusually high tides, boosted by abnormally warm Pacific water, submerged roads and trails across Marin County.
Drone footage shared by the San Francisco Standard on October 27 shows kayakers paddling along a bike path between Mill Valley and Sausalito, where cyclists and runners are a more familiar sight. Nearby, cars creep through flooded streets, parking lots sit submerged, and one soggy pedestrian wades through a flooded lot.
The flooding, which began October 26, comes amid a potentially historic Super El Niño, a climate pattern marked by warmer-than-normal waters in the tropical Pacific. According to the National Weather Service, warm ocean water associated with El Niño has expanded, raising sea levels and giving already high tides an extra boost.
Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office, told Outside that the combination produced some remarkably high water levels for October.
“We typically don’t see flooding from tides this time of year,” Garcia said. “The water actually rose higher than what we’d expect during the biggest tides of winter.”
The kayakers weren’t the only ones making use of the unexpected waterways. On October 26, KTVU spotted paddleboarders cruising past stranded cars in Mill Valley.
Bad Day to Drive a Car
Other commuters weren’t having quite as much fun.
Floodwater swamped portions of Shoreline Highway near Highway 101, forcing road closures and stranding drivers. On nearby Miller Avenue, one driver became trapped inside his car as water rose halfway up the vehicle. A tow truck operator eventually helped him escape, according to KTVU.
Two-wheeled travelers also found themselves in a bind, including one cyclist who had traveled from Tiburon to Sausalito on October 26 and found herself stranded when floodwaters blocked her route home, NBC Bay Area reported.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the water rose remarkably fast, taking one stretch of Shoreline Highway from dry pavement to roughly two feet of water in about half an hour on October 27.
The high water will continue for several more days. The National Weather Service has extended its coastal flood advisory through October 31, warning that additional high tides could inundate low-lying roads and shoreline areas, particularly along Marin County’s bayshore.
This week’s flooding could be a preview of what’s coming this winter. In August, University of California climate scientist Daniel Swain warned that El Niño could temporarily raise ocean levels and increase the chances of major storms, according to SFGATE. Some of the year’s biggest tides are expected around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and late January. If powerful storms arrive at the same time, California could experience record coastal water levels, Swain said.
If those winter projections hold true, Marin County’s kayakers should keep their paddles somewhere handy.
