King tides, high winds, and possible heavy rains will impact most of the state over the next several days.
The National Weather Service is warning residents of the higher than normal tides and changing weather conditions west of the state. Experts say this could bring coastal flooding in low-lying areas -- especially around the peak high tides, which occur between midnight and daybreak.
Kaua?i and O?ahu may experience strong southerly winds starting Tuesday. Weather experts say these winds could exceed advisory levels over mountain areas and along north through northeast slopes through Christmas Day.
Experts are advising residents to be alert during this time.
"Most of the time, our trade winds blow out of the east, and most of the trees and the infrastructure can handle that," said Matthew Foster, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"But in this case, when we have winds from a different direction -- it kind of does some funny things with how the infrastructure handles those winds. We could get some downed trees, and maybe some power outages."
Foster says the impacts of king tides combined with the approaching weather pattern may cause flooding of beaches that normally remain dry, and salt water inundation of low-lying roads, docks, boat ramps, and other coastal infrastructure.
Experts believe the potential for this kind of coastal flooding will dwindle by the end of the week.
