King tides on the Grand Strand: when to rinse low-lying turf, and why to wait for the last big morning high

The state's king tide list for 2026 has two windows left: this week and Thanksgiving week. SCDES, the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, lists none for December.

King tides are the highest predicted tides of the year, set by the moon and the sun, not the weather, so the low streets near the marsh and the inlets can take water on a clear, calm day.

For the hour, use NOAA's tide predictions for the station nearest you; times run later up the inlets and back in the marsh. In both windows the morning high is the big one, a foot or more above the evening high, and comes about 50 minutes later each day.

For the height, use the Springmaid Pier station, number 8661070. WMBF's Grand Strand forecast for last October's king tides put minor coastal flooding at about a 7-foot tide, and its peak, with a storm offshore, at about 8.6 feet, moderate flooding. Compare those numbers only with Springmaid Pier's heights; stations up the inlets predict lower and would make your street look safer than it is.

This week's Springmaid Pier highs peak at about 6.9 feet Tuesday morning, just under the 7-foot line, so the wind decides. A gusty northeast wind from a storm offshore pushes the water higher than the tide alone.

Each big morning high can put water back on a low yard. Rinse on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning's tide can bring the salt and fine sand right back. The mornings stay big for a day after each window, so the table puts the flush on the day after.

Waiting costs little. Turf fibers tolerate salt; the trouble is residue that sits through a dry spell and bonds with the infill, which is why our sand and salt page says to flush within a few weeks. A few days is well inside that.

A putting green waits too: keep it closed through the window, then flush it and check the sand as soon as the window ends, in the order on our putting green storm recovery page.

For the flush, use our rinse and flush guide. If street or storm-drain water reached the turf, keep kids and dogs off it until that flush, and make it thorough. If the water left mud, silt or debris, follow the longer sequence on our turf after flooding page, also starting after the window.

Get ready for Tuesday morning's high, the year's highest, and again before Thanksgiving week.

1. Move what sits on low turf. Cushions, dog beds, toys and patio furniture. Anything left down soaks up salt water and holds wet sand against the fibers.
2. Blow off leaves and pine needles. Fall needle drop is under way. A clear surface drains through the backing instead of holding a soggy mat of debris on the infill.
3. Pick up after the dog. Standing water spreads whatever is left on the surface.
4. Stay off it while it is wet. Street and storm-drain water carries whatever it picked up, so wait for it to go out, and wear shoes.

During last October's king tides, with a storm offshore pushing the forecast to about 8.6 feet, WMBF named the streets it expected might flood: 46th and 48th Avenues South in North Myrtle Beach, many of the numbered streets in Cherry Grove, Atlantic Avenue and most of the tree streets in Garden City, and Basin Drive, Dolphin Street and the Marshwalk in Murrells Inlet. Those are streets, not yards. A house on one of them may stay dry in an ordinary king tide, and a low corner a few blocks away may not.

The only reliable test is to look. Around Tuesday's or Wednesday's morning high, photograph the turf from a window and note how far any water came. That tells you what to watch for in November.

The November window, Tuesday the 24th to Friday the 27th, wraps around Thanksgiving, when many yards and greens have guests on them. Thanksgiving morning's high, about 8:11 a.m. at Springmaid Pier, is among the window's highest.

If the tide reached your turf, keep the gathering on the patio or the high side, and send guests along the driveway, not across the low end. Keep kids and dogs off the wet part until the flush on Saturday the 28th, after the late-morning high tide (about 10 a.m. at Springmaid Pier, later inside the inlets) stays off the turf.

If the tide only wet the turf and drained away, one hose flush after the window is usually all it needs, and you can do that yourself. Mud, silt or sand you cannot rinse out, or a white crust a week after the flush, is a storm and seasonal cleanup, from $199. A lifted edge or seam is a repair: edges from $175, seams from $250. A green that plays wrong after tidewater is quoted by size as a putting green restoration; most backyard greens fall between $299 and $899. Book any of it for after the window closes, for the same reason you wait to rinse.