This was the scene in front of the Kahala Beach Apartments this morning, where several inches of sand and debris covered a long stretch of the sidewalk, the result of an unusually high tide late yesterday.

A post on Jan TenBruggencate’s Raising Islands blog this week reported high tides in Hawaii running 8-10 inches above last year.

He wrote:

Very strange stuff is going on at Hawai`i’s coastlines—sea levels have jumped in the past few months as much as they have in the past century.

Oceanographers are trying to figure out just what’s going on.

But what it means for now is that we are seeing eight to 10 inches higher high tides than we did a year ago.

If you’ve been at the docks, or at low-lying coastlines, you’ve seen it. This week will see some of the highest high tides.

University of Hawai`i coastal geologist Chip Fletcher said the superhigh water has been around for some time, and people seeing the unusual water levels and noting that it’s strange are not mistaken.

“No it’s not a mistake – there has been a slug of high sea level for a year or more that has lingered around the islands,” Fletcher said.

It may be temporary, TenBruggencate reports. Let’s hope so.

It’s a very interesting post, complete with charts and graphs. But if you’re anywhere near the water, more than a little unsettling.