Flooding in Venice

It will be a new moon on Feb 27, and that will be the maximum tide, reducing every day after that. Flooding also depends on the wind direction, rainfall in the lagoon's watershed. It also depends where you are located in Venice. Piazza San Marco is the lowest area in Venice. Street vendors will also be selling plastic over-boots as soon as the Acqua Alta appears, so I would not bother with bringing high boots. Flooding is only for a couple of hours. It is actually fascinating how the city deals with it.
https://www.comune.venezia.it/en/content/venice-and-high-water

PS, the visual on the first page of the above site, shows a person standing in Piazza San Marco will have wet feet at 80 cm, so 61 cm would appear to be nothing to worry about.

I never considered flooding as an issue, ya I know a city built on water

Venice is actually at great risk of disappearing entirely due to rising sea levels caused by global warming (yes, it is a thing). Worst case scenario sees it entirely under water by 2100.

So see it while you can :-)

If it is 61cm that is not near flood stage. Generally you need numbers of 80 or more before you'll see any "flooding". Unfortunately for tourists San Marco and the palace are some of the lowest points in the city and most sensitive to high water. San Marco is about 80 at its lowest point, and Rialto Bridge is 105 and the train station is 135. There are whole sections of the islands that never flood so if you're worried about high water head over to Cannaregio and the Jewish Ghetto and you won't see it.

For anyone who hasn't been there to see it when it "floods" essentially what happens is the drains run backwards. So a drain that is at 90+cm will slowly creep water outwards until the tide recedes and then the water retreats back. End of October and November are the big months for acqua alta "high water" as they call it and the city just deals with it. Platforms will be deployed in San Marco to walk on over the water and get entrance to the cathedral etc. And these will be taken down by city workers once the waters retreat.

We got caught in very high water in October that the city somehow missed in their prediction and was one of those knee-high water in Rialto like the ones in the photos. We bought booties and made our way through the city and it was just an experience we'll always remember not a crisis.

If you get stuck get booties or and explore a higher ground area, have lunch or a spritz and wait for the water to retreat. Just don't go barefoot is my only advice - tourists and even some locals do this but Venetians think those people are crazy and I have to agree.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

And keep an eye on weather, the lagoon also rises some with inland rain and flooding, making the tides worse. While February tends to be drier, I was there during a bad streak of heavy rain the few days before, then a high tide.

There was probably a good foot of water in St Marks Square, and many streets had 6-8 inches of water. But life goes on, even the cathedral was open, restaurants and stores were open, they put the walkway platforms out, and everybody goes about their business.

Hours later, things ease, and almost back to normal.

It is, for all the trouble, a memorable time to visit the city. I don't know if I would bother bringing boots, I was fine, maybe some wet feet. My wife opted to buy a pair of rubber boots, obviously they bring them out, like umbrellas when it rains, and still wears them in the garden.

We were there in October 2024. It did flood slightly but it rained on and off all day for 2 & ½ days. We found the little shops that sold the colorful knee high over-the -shoe-boots for about $10 or $15 and wore those each day. Even without flooding but raining your shoes will get very wet if you don't have boots to cover them...how miserable is that? We wore our rain jackets but one day we needed to buy a cheap poncho at one of the shops to wear over our jackets. You bet we had our fleece on under the rain jacket. We brought small collapsable umbrellas from home.

I was in Venice September 10-24, 2024, staying in Cannaregio. We had a modest high-water experience on two days. Water was slopping onto the sidewalks and walkways were deployed along the main street to the train station. The train station is, indeed, high--it's up a considerable flight of stairs--but Cannaregio as a whole isn't impervious to high water. Still, by the time I got up and out, my waterproof athletic shoes were sufficient to keep my feet dry. Isolated puddles may remain in inconvenient locations after the water has receded.

My travel mate didn't have waterproof shoes and opted to buy a pair of the pull-on boots. I was surprised at how sturdy they were; I think they'd do a good job. They aren't lightweight, though; your luggage weight will increase if you take them home.