Higher than normal tides driven by the forces of the moon and high winds are hitting South Florida's coast, along with dangerous rip currents, officials say.

Water levels are rising along seawalls, docks and canal banks this week as the tides reach their fall peak, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Thursday. Ankle-deep water flowed over a section of a Fort Lauderdale boulevard and an inch of water covered parts of a state highway near Hollywood, the newspaper said.

Low-lying areas were expected to be vulnerable to similar soakings as high tides will persist through Friday, forecasters said.

Stiff onshore breezes, coupled with the gravitational pull from a new moon, are the culprits, they say.

"We have a lot of wind coming down from the north, northerly winds about 20 to 25 mph," meteorologist Chuck Caracozza of the National Weather Service said.

"It's a normal event; it happens every year," said Nancy Gassman, natural resources administrator for Broward County, noting this week's tides are 8 to 10 inches above average. "The fall tides tend to be more extreme."