Posted on Jun 15, 2022
Lowest tides in 13 years coming to Puget Sound
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Puget Sound should see its lowest tides in more than a decade on Wednesday and Thursday.
Very low tides come every summer, driven by the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun.
But thanks to an 18.6-year wobble in the moon’s orbit, the lows are extra low this summer.
That wobble, known as the lunar nodal cycle, is nearing its 2025 peak, and it is helping the tide slosh in and out of Puget Sound a little more powerfully than usual.
“We are approaching a peak of the lunar nodal cycle, in which the difference between the high and low tides will be larger than it is at other times,” said Port Angeles-based oceanographer Ian Miller with Washington Sea Grant.
Miller says the cycle can push a low tide down an extra six inches.
Puget Sound tides are expected to retreat to an unusual degree the week of June 12, exposing areas that are seldom left high and dry.
Very low tides come every summer, driven by the relative positions of the earth, moon, and sun.
But thanks to an 18.6-year wobble in the moon’s orbit, the lows are extra low this summer.
That wobble, known as the lunar nodal cycle, is nearing its 2025 peak, and it is helping the tide slosh in and out of Puget Sound a little more powerfully than usual.
“We are approaching a peak of the lunar nodal cycle, in which the difference between the high and low tides will be larger than it is at other times,” said Port Angeles-based oceanographer Ian Miller with Washington Sea Grant.
Miller says the cycle can push a low tide down an extra six inches.
Puget Sound tides are expected to retreat to an unusual degree the week of June 12, exposing areas that are seldom left high and dry.
Lowest tides in 13 years coming to Puget Sound
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Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...High tides are also expected to reach unusual heights the week of June 12, but they probably won’t approach the record high tides that flooded parts of the region in January. Those “king tides” got a boost from a low-pressure weather system that lessened the weight of air pushing the sea down, letting the tide in Port Townsend, Seattle, and Tacoma bulge nearly two feet higher than tide tables predicted.
In a bulletin issued in May for the West Coast, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said that the Seattle area and parts of Southern California should expect unusually high tides and minor coastal flooding as well as unusually low tides June 12-16, July 11-16, and Aug. 9-12.
If a storm coincides with those high tides, more serious flooding could occur.
The unusually wide swings between extreme tides arelikely to bring powerful currents, a potential hazard to boaters, in places like Deception Pass, Tacoma Narrows, and the San Juan Islands."
...High tides are also expected to reach unusual heights the week of June 12, but they probably won’t approach the record high tides that flooded parts of the region in January. Those “king tides” got a boost from a low-pressure weather system that lessened the weight of air pushing the sea down, letting the tide in Port Townsend, Seattle, and Tacoma bulge nearly two feet higher than tide tables predicted.
In a bulletin issued in May for the West Coast, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said that the Seattle area and parts of Southern California should expect unusually high tides and minor coastal flooding as well as unusually low tides June 12-16, July 11-16, and Aug. 9-12.
If a storm coincides with those high tides, more serious flooding could occur.
The unusually wide swings between extreme tides arelikely to bring powerful currents, a potential hazard to boaters, in places like Deception Pass, Tacoma Narrows, and the San Juan Islands."
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