The Wilmington, Del.-based partnership, part of a national estuary program, is involved in projects and research to protect the estuary that is the tidal Delaware River and Bay and its tributaries.
Ocean tides result from the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon, and Earth. Also known as perigean high tides, king tides occur when the three are most closely aligned.
This alignment occurs twice a year, when the Earth reaches its closet point to the sun during its annual orbit, and the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth during its 27-day orbit. The combination of the two make for extreme water levels.
The "spring" king tide in the area occurred in January. It caused no appreciable damage, officials said.
Adding to the possibility of minor flooding during the king-tide period Wednesday through Friday will be gusty winds and rain expected Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
It will take only a "little push" from the wind to cause minor tidal flooding along the oceanfront, Delaware Bay, and the lower Delaware River and its tributaries, meteorologist Patrick O'Hara said.
Kreeger said many scientists concur that sea levels in the Delaware estuary and along the Eastern Seaboard could rise by three to five feet by the end of this century.
Kreeger and others say they want to make residents of flood-prone areas aware of what that could mean in the future.
At the Shore, in Barnegat Inlet off Long Beach Island, the high tide is expected to crest at about three feet Thursday morning - a foot higher than one week ago, said Karen Walzer, public outreach coordinator for the Barnegat Bay Partnership, a Toms River-based estuary-protection group.
