Each winter, the Puget Sound and Salish Sea experience very high tides called King Tides. Occasionally, the highest tides correspond with a significant drop in the barometric (atmospheric) pressure and the water level rises much higher than forecast. That’s when remarkable shoreline flooding occurs, like on December 27, 2022.
The next local King Tides occur January 22, 23, 24, 2023. We urge you to prepare to document the high tides by downloading MyCoastApp to your mobile device and then use the reporting feature to upload pictures. Be ready and stay safe. Move vehicles to higher ground. If King Tides combine with high wind waves, pummeling logs can be very dangerous. Watch out for downed power lines and power outages.
Bridget Trosin from Washington Sea Grant and Jesse Jones from Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition co-present in this YouTube hour-long video on King Tides and Sea Level Rise, recorded Dec 9, 2022.
Thank you SWS photographers for the photos below and Ellyn Thoreen for the video above (coming soon).
- Don Engblom, SWS Class of 2020, English Boom on North Camano (GTWE #58)
- Tabitha Jacobs-Mangiafico, Class of 2020, Near Langley, Whidbey
- Jennifer Sand, Class of 2022, Freeland Park, Holmes Harbor, Whidbey (GTWE #41)
- Ellyn Thoreen, Class of 2020, Iverson Spit, Camano (GTWE #63)
