Watching the Tides
27/12/22 02:11
Living in a new place is an opportunity to learn a lot of new things. We are just beginning to learn about the tides in Birch Bay. We walk down to the bay several times each week. It provides us with constant fascination. We’ve never lived near an ocean before. In fact for all of our lives before we moved here we lived more than a thousand miles from the ocean, visiting only occasionally. Now we are a 15-minute walk away from a beach. The tides rise and fall with predictable regularity, but their cycle is different from other indicators of the passage of time. High and low tides come at different times of the day. The amount of variation between high and low tide is different, depending on the season of the year, the amount of wind, and other factors. The tides keep us mindful of the moon, which orbits the earth in an elliptical pattern, coming closer at some times and being farther away at others.
Last winter, In January, the king tides and a storm surge combined to send water crashing over the earthen berms and into houses along the shore. At its peak, the tide was 12 feet over the normal level of water in the bay. This year, the king tides are back a bit earlier, occurring over the next few days. Our weather is a bit calmer and high tides are predicted to be about 10.5 feet above normal. Over the year since last January a lot of private homes have invested in building up seawalls. Huge rocks are brought in from a quarry and piled near the high water mark to provide protection for the buildings that are built near to the shore. The result, among other things, is that there is a shrinking amount of space to walk on the beach between the water and the sea walls. During king tides, there is no place to walk without getting wet. We’ve lived here long enough, however, to know places where we can safely walk along the beach and observe the high water.
The king tide this year is coming at the same time as the rivers and creeks are running very full. A week ago we had two feet of snow on the ground and snow depths were much greater in the foothills of the mountains. That was followed by freezing rain last week and a rapid rise in temperatures on Christmas. We went from 12 degrees to 50 degrees in a couple of days. The snow is all melted. There are huge puddles in the fields. The storm sewers are funning full. When the rivers and streams meet the sea with higher flow levels and the sea greets them with higher tides, the risk of flooding rises.
On our way to the beach we walk alongside Tennant Creek. The creek is a title stream, which means that when the tide is rising, the creek flows from the sea for about three miles into a marshy inland area. When the tide is falling, the creek flows out to the sea, draining a large area of the surrounding countryside. When we are walking, we can tell whether the tide is high or low by the direction that the creek is flowing. Because the tide washes into the creek, the fresh water is greeted with salt water and there is rich marine life, including crabs and other creatures in the mouth of the creek, making it a gathering place for seagulls, ducks, and shorebirds feeding on the creatures and plants flowing back and forth in the creek.
Yesterday we walked midway between high and low tides. The creek was flowing out to sea on the falling tide, and it was full, nearly overflowing its banks in several places. Today we will walk close to high tide to observe the king tide and we expect to see places where the creek is flooding.
A bit south of where we live the Nooksack River flows into Bellingham Bay, the combination of floodwaters from the surrounding area and the high tides combined to flood several homes. County Search and Rescue had to use boats to rescue several people and pets from flooded homes. It is enough to make us very glad that we learned about flood charts and elevations before we purchased our home. n
I grew up alongside a mountain stream in Montana. I was used to the cycle of the river rising to its peak flow in late spring or early summer when the snow was melting in the mountains. There were a few times when the river spilled over its banks and flooded, but the change in the flow was less dramatic than is the case with the rivers and streams that drain the Cascade Mountains. Mount Baker, which is visible from our son’s farm receives the most amount of snow fall of any place in the lower 48 states. All of that snow is in a cycle of freezing and melting. At lower levels of the mountain, now falls and melts throughout the winter. So, instead of spring and early summer being the seasons of flooding, winter is the time when we see the most flooding in this area. Last year the floods came in November. This year, January seems to be the month of the most flooding following an unusually dry November.
County emergency officials literally went from a snow and blizzard warning to an ice storm warning to a flood warning in three days over Christmas weekend. So far, we have had the luxury of observing all of these changes from the safety and security of a warm home with reliable power and a full pantry. When the weather is too extreme, we just stay home, as we did for three days last week. Even when we are staying close to home, however, we can take our daily walks, except for a couple of the iciest days. We’re watching and learning and continue to be fascinated with the ways of the natural world in our new home.
Last winter, In January, the king tides and a storm surge combined to send water crashing over the earthen berms and into houses along the shore. At its peak, the tide was 12 feet over the normal level of water in the bay. This year, the king tides are back a bit earlier, occurring over the next few days. Our weather is a bit calmer and high tides are predicted to be about 10.5 feet above normal. Over the year since last January a lot of private homes have invested in building up seawalls. Huge rocks are brought in from a quarry and piled near the high water mark to provide protection for the buildings that are built near to the shore. The result, among other things, is that there is a shrinking amount of space to walk on the beach between the water and the sea walls. During king tides, there is no place to walk without getting wet. We’ve lived here long enough, however, to know places where we can safely walk along the beach and observe the high water.
The king tide this year is coming at the same time as the rivers and creeks are running very full. A week ago we had two feet of snow on the ground and snow depths were much greater in the foothills of the mountains. That was followed by freezing rain last week and a rapid rise in temperatures on Christmas. We went from 12 degrees to 50 degrees in a couple of days. The snow is all melted. There are huge puddles in the fields. The storm sewers are funning full. When the rivers and streams meet the sea with higher flow levels and the sea greets them with higher tides, the risk of flooding rises.
On our way to the beach we walk alongside Tennant Creek. The creek is a title stream, which means that when the tide is rising, the creek flows from the sea for about three miles into a marshy inland area. When the tide is falling, the creek flows out to the sea, draining a large area of the surrounding countryside. When we are walking, we can tell whether the tide is high or low by the direction that the creek is flowing. Because the tide washes into the creek, the fresh water is greeted with salt water and there is rich marine life, including crabs and other creatures in the mouth of the creek, making it a gathering place for seagulls, ducks, and shorebirds feeding on the creatures and plants flowing back and forth in the creek.
Yesterday we walked midway between high and low tides. The creek was flowing out to sea on the falling tide, and it was full, nearly overflowing its banks in several places. Today we will walk close to high tide to observe the king tide and we expect to see places where the creek is flooding.
A bit south of where we live the Nooksack River flows into Bellingham Bay, the combination of floodwaters from the surrounding area and the high tides combined to flood several homes. County Search and Rescue had to use boats to rescue several people and pets from flooded homes. It is enough to make us very glad that we learned about flood charts and elevations before we purchased our home. n
I grew up alongside a mountain stream in Montana. I was used to the cycle of the river rising to its peak flow in late spring or early summer when the snow was melting in the mountains. There were a few times when the river spilled over its banks and flooded, but the change in the flow was less dramatic than is the case with the rivers and streams that drain the Cascade Mountains. Mount Baker, which is visible from our son’s farm receives the most amount of snow fall of any place in the lower 48 states. All of that snow is in a cycle of freezing and melting. At lower levels of the mountain, now falls and melts throughout the winter. So, instead of spring and early summer being the seasons of flooding, winter is the time when we see the most flooding in this area. Last year the floods came in November. This year, January seems to be the month of the most flooding following an unusually dry November.
County emergency officials literally went from a snow and blizzard warning to an ice storm warning to a flood warning in three days over Christmas weekend. So far, we have had the luxury of observing all of these changes from the safety and security of a warm home with reliable power and a full pantry. When the weather is too extreme, we just stay home, as we did for three days last week. Even when we are staying close to home, however, we can take our daily walks, except for a couple of the iciest days. We’re watching and learning and continue to be fascinated with the ways of the natural world in our new home.
