Come join us January 23rd at 6pm
King Tides Kickoff is an informational event about the King Tide Photo Initiative, a 10-year-old citizen science project that tracks and plans for sea-level rise in coastal communities.
During the program, a scientist speaks on a local coast issue – in the context of the year’s highest tides and/or our rocky habitat – and share how the partnership between OCMP and CoastWatch educates the public about King Tides using their photos to map the sea’s reach on land.
The public is invited of course, and Oregon Shores will be hosting with appetizers/snacks for this first-time event in Florence. RSVP to the Facebook event CLICK HERE.
Here are some tidbits about KING TIDES:
What causes king tides?
Tides are caused by the gravitational influence of the sun, the moon, and the earth on the earth’s oceans. When the orbits and alignment of the earth, moon and sun come into a particular relationship, the tidal range is at its greatest; low tides are especially low and high tides are especially high.
The term ‘king tide’ is used in Australia and in some Pacific Island nations and refers to tides that occur when the moon’s orbit comes closest to the earth, the earth’s orbit is closest to the sun, and the sun, moon and earth are in alignment, thereby increasing their influence on the tides. The term is becoming more commonly used in the United States. These tidal events are also known as perigean spring tides.
In Oregon, we are using the term ‘king tides’ to refer to the highest winter tides. These highest tides occur each winter when the earth is closest to the sun in its yearly orbit, and when the sun and moon are aligned so that their gravitational forces reinforce each other to have a particularly strong effect on the Earth’s tides.
For more information about tides, please visit: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/education.html.
Why are some tides higher than what is predicted?
Local weather conditions during a high tide event can greatly influence the actual observed water levels. If a low atmospheric pressure system or a winter storm coincides with a high tide, water levels could be measurably higher than the predicted level published in the NOAA tide tables. Predicted tides are for a specific point along the coast or estuary. Tide levels in nearby locations will probably be different from predicted tides, because of a variety of factors. For example, the shape of bays and estuaries can magnify the intensity of the local tides.
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