High tides swamp Malibu beaches, as five days of extreme high tides are likely Play

Waves from Hurricane Rachel thundered ashore in Malibu overnight, and the highest tides in more than a decade flooded Zuma Beach

The Zuma Beach helipad was underwaterr at midmorning. An estimated 95 of the sand along Zuma was underwater. The beachfront lateral sanddune prevengted most waves from entering the parking lots, but the berms were overtopped in several areas.

Waves sloshed onto the pavement on Westward Beach Road. More than one foot of salt water stood in the Arizoan Crossing between Zuma Beach and Westward Beach Road.

The predicted high tide Friday was seven feet at 9:01 a.m., wtih a secondary high tide of 6.2 feet predicted for tonight at 9:28 p.m.

But those are the predicted tides. Actual high tides are running one to one and a half feet higher than what's predicted by the tide books. This is due to the Kelvin wave, which is arriving in Malibu this week.

The National Weather Service says the complex series of swells arriving from Rachel to the south, a super typhoon off Japan to the west, and the approaching cold front from the northwest are going to make some very big waves possible here in Malibu. The tide may crest at nearly eight feet above the low tide mark.

Extremely high tides are expected each morning and each evening for the next five days.